The fact that Werder lost their only friendly before the resumption of the season in the New Year did admittedly annoy Bittencourt, but he doesn’t attribute great importance to the 3-1 loss away at Eintracht Braunschweig. “We would’ve hoped for a different outcome, but don’t think it’s pivotal,” Werder’s number ten explained.
Focusing on competitive action
The Green-Whites would have liked to play two 60-minute halves against the 2. Bundesliga side, but opted to play a standard game of 90 minutes instead due to a few players being absent. “You can see that some of the boys are missing and that we don’t have the squad depth that we’d like to have,” said the midfielder about possible winter arrivals. “That’s why I’m hoping we bring some players in who can help us out straight away and don’t need much time to settle in.” That being said, Bittencourt is confident that the squad has enough quality to achieve their goal of staying in the Bundesliga.
For this reason, Leo believes that it’s now important for the boys to put the friendly from the weekend behind them and turn their focus to the upcoming opponent. “The game on Sunday is a thousand times more important to me than the one against Braunschweig,” said the 30-year-old. “Playing in Bochum isn’t easy. If anyone says during the week that the game will be like another friendly, it won’t end well for us.” Bittencourt wants to personally prevent this from happening. “I know my boys, and I know myself. We should be able to manage that.”
Focusing on competitive action
The Green-Whites would have liked to play two 60-minute halves against the 2. Bundesliga side, but opted to play a standard game of 90 minutes instead due to a few players being absent. “You can see that some of the boys are missing and that we don’t have the squad depth that we’d like to have,” said the midfielder about possible winter arrivals. “That’s why I’m hoping we bring some players in who can help us out straight away and don’t need much time to settle in.” That being said, Bittencourt is confident that the squad has enough quality to achieve their goal of staying in the Bundesliga.
For this reason, Leo believes that it’s now important for the boys to put the friendly from the weekend behind them and turn their focus to the upcoming opponent. “The game on Sunday is a thousand times more important to me than the one against Braunschweig,” said the 30-year-old. “Playing in Bochum isn’t easy. If anyone says during the week that the game will be like another friendly, it won’t end well for us.” Bittencourt wants to personally prevent this from happening. “I know my boys, and I know myself. We should be able to manage that.”