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While pre-season means a well-earned break for the men on the pitch at least. However it is a period when others spring into action. Oliver Ruhnert and Michael Parensen, Union’s managing and technical directors of men’s professional football respectively, are in charge of the operational side of things and take care of the squad planning for the current and coming seasons. Parensen is also responsible for travel planning, amongst many other things, and always has an open ear. The two have recently been supported by Anna Wiesner and René Andresen.

While VfL Wolfsburg (https://www.vfl-wolfsburg.de/en/teams/first-team) are still looking for their first win of 2024, this weekend’s opponents Bayer Leverkusen remain undefeated this season – in the Bundesliga, the DFB Cup and the UEFA Europa League. As such, it is clear to see who the favourites are ahead of the teams’ meeting on Sunday evening (kick-off 19:30 CET). There are, however, a number of reasons why the Green-and-Whites can be optimistic of finally returning to winning ways… 

The international break is slowly drawing to a close and the Borussia players are gearing up...

Although Marcel Sabitzer’s red card before the break gave Werder the upper hand in the second half, the Green-Whites were unable to make the most of their chances and disappointingly came away from the clash with nothing to show for their hard work. WERDER.DE were in the mixed zone after the game to gather the reaction to the defeat.

Ermedin Demirović: “Today’s game was very physical and a little bit ugly, which is why we’re extremely happy to have gotten our next three points. We’re enjoying ourselves at the minute and we’re on a good path. Every week, it’s clear to see that we’re playing as a team – everyone fights for each other and we’re able to defend well right until the end, like we did today. We’re a really strong team and we’re capable of beating any side we come up again, especially with the support of our fans. We need to take this euphoria with us, but also remain grounded and focused on the task at hand.” 

Arne Maier: “Winning three straight games is a great feeling, and it’s reflected in the dressing room right now. We knew that Heidenheim would be a tough opponent and were prepared to contest lots of challenges and defend lots of long balls, but we did well to withstand the pressure and managed to come out on top of a tough game thanks to a set-piece goal. The three points are staying in Augsburg, which is the most important thing – I’m extremely happy for the entire team. Next, we come up against Wolfsburg, which is what we’re fully focused on now. We want to keep picking up points.”

Jeffrey Gouweleeuw: “It’s an incredible feeling because it’s a rare thing for us to win three straight games. I think that it wasn’t an amazing game, based on the quality of the football on show, as we didn’t have many chances and neither did Heidenheim. We gave up a little bit of our control over the game in the second half, but are still able to draw a lot of confidence from this win, while keeping our feet firmly planted in reality. I’m very happy that I was able to score the winning goal today, but at the same time, I’m also extremely happy for Finn and the rest of the team that we managed to keep back-to-back clean sheets.” 

Jess Thorup (FC Augsburg head coach): “Today was our third win in a row, which is proof of the development that the team has undergone in the last weeks and months. From my point of view, we were in control for the entire first half and were able to take the lead despite not creating many chances. The game was very physical and it came down to who won the second balls, while we also defended well and deservedly won in the end. Playing at home in front of our fans and a sell-out crowd is always a great feeling.” 

Frank Schmidt (1. FC Heidenheim head coach): “Congratulations to Jess and his team. Overall, it wasn’t the best Bundesliga game today, but as expected, it was very physical. We shouldn’t have allowed Augsburg to take the lead from a set piece – we weren’t alert enough and it’s tough to then come back against a team brimming with confidence. Both sides defended well in the middle of the park, but we lacked precision and power in our attack today. Of course we’re frustrated about the defeat, because it was a close game, but we will put it behind us and now have another opportunity to do better at home next week.” 

Here is what we have on tap for this episode:

Günter and Matthias Ginter were in agreement that Freiburg needed to “recover well” after their intense match in the Europa League. Thankfully, there are more options in the squad again after various injury lay-offs. “More and more players are coming back,” Günter also noted, while he himself is now ready for 90 minutes again after a long period out. “That’s important for us,” he continued. “The lads who are coming off the bench are doing really well.” An example of this from the game against West Ham is Michael Gregoritsch, who came on in the 70th minute, had his first chance in the 73rd, and scored the winning goal in the 81st minute. He went straight in to help his teammates without needing any time to settle into the game.

Coach Marco Rose, Xaver Schlager, Christoph Baumgartner and sports director Rouven Schröder speak after the 2-0 win against Darmstadt

VfB’s 2-0 win in last night’s Bundesliga’s match against Union Berlin came at a cost as...

The Turkish junior selection’s training course will take place in Erzurum from 7 to 13 August 2023. The city is located in the east of Turkey and is the largest city in Eastern Anatolia. For Sarioglu, it is a first call-up for this age group having already received four caps for the Turkish U17 national team last season.