The silent comeback

Mitchell Weiser never fails to come into training with a smile. The time spent working individually is over; he has been training with the rest of the team for the past two weeks. “I am getting fitter but it’s only through playing matches that I can get back to full fitness,” explained Weiser, who did not manage to play in any pre-season friendlies. “Even if you give everything in training, you cannot simulate the pace of a match. I will need another one or two games before I’m 100 percent fit again and have the confidence to properly get stuck in.”

The wing-back is slowly being reintroduced to the team. First with a short cameo in Cologne, then from the first whistle against Bayern. Weiser always wants to compete with the best and so the game against the Bundesliga title-holders suited him well. “We had to improve after the cup game and I think that we played well for long periods against Bayern, despite the 4-0 loss,” summed up Werder’s number 8. “But, of course, we need to push on.”

Göz Atın

“I never would have dreamt of playing so many games”

Grüll back in partial team training

Euro play-offs and Nations League clashes

His attention is already on the next game. SC Freiburg made a very good first impression in their 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim, which they will look to build upon in front of their home crowd. There’s a reason SC have developed into European competitiors in recent years: “They are very well drilled, they work hard and everybody sticks to their role – that makes it difficult to play against them”, explained Weiser. “We have to be competitive in every phase of the game and stick to our plan – our squad is good enough to pick up plenty of points in the Bundesliga.”