Thanks to a record lightning start in the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen has stalked even closer to the European Cup places. The promoted team, who played like unleashed in the early stages, won their home game on Saturday evening against Borussia Mönchengladbach, who had been overwhelmed for a long time, 5-1 (4-0) and jumped up to eighth place in the table.
Attackers Niclas Füllkrug (5th and 13th minutes) and Marvin Ducksch (8th) set a record in the club’s history with their early goals: Never before had Bremen been 3-0 up after 13 minutes in a Bundesliga game . In addition, Mitchell Weiser (73′) scored for Bremen, and the completely indisposed Ramy Bensebaini scored an own goal (37′), in which he unchallengedly jumped the ball into the goal with the outside.
The mishap of the Algerian full-back was symbolic of the European Cup contender’s unfocused and strangely disembodied appearance in the first half. Coach Daniel Farke’s team, for whom Marcus Thuram only scored to make it 4-1 (63rd), suffered an inexplicable slump in performance just two weeks after the 3-0 gala against RB Leipzig and fell behind Bremen in ninth place .
“Bundle of the Bundesliga”
“Werder is not a typical climber, but a veteran of the Bundesliga,” Farke had warned before the kick-off on Sky: “We need a top performance to be able to score points. Bremen acts with a lot of courage and is very good at pressing.” In the early stages, Bremen was even brilliant against Gladbach who were overwhelmed.
At the first goal, Kouadio Koné, who was far too passive, did not prevent the setter Romano Schmid from crossing, and in the middle goalscorer Füllkrug escaped his guard Joe Scally. Only three minutes later, Borussia again fell too sleepy and made mistakes in defense when Ducksch used a dust-off to make it 2-0. The Gladbachers were shocked by the double strike – but it got even worse: After a completely unsuccessful attempt to clear Bensebaini with a header, Ducksch put his strike partner Füllkrug on his second goal.
Gladbach gave a first sign of life in the 18th minute, but Christoph Kramer missed the goal. The 2014 World Champion, actually at home on the defensive, once again played in attacking midfield from the start. His main task was the early pressing – but the plan didn’t work at all. It was Bremen who interfered aggressively and early. When winning the ball, the promoted team looked for the direct route to the opposing goal, which posed major problems for the guests.
Farke did not make any substitutions at the change of sides, and the unfortunate Bensebaini was also allowed to continue playing. Defensively, Gladbach was now much safer. Bremen didn’t attack their opponents as aggressively as in the first half, but still had chances, as with Weiser’s crossbar header (59′). Gladbach’s rebellion was rewarded with a goal from Thuram, but Weiser restored the four-goal gap.
