So close to the goal: Werder can make it clear against RB Leipzig that they will stay in the league – and therefore leave the TV off

Werder Bremen coach Ole Werner wants to cause a surprise away against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 17.30 CET in the DeichStube live ticker) and thus make the relegation perfect early. © gumzmedia

SV Werder Bremen have to play away at RB Leipzig on Sunday (17.30 CET, DeichStube live ticker). Will the Green-Whites pull off a surprise and thus stay in the Bundesliga early? The preliminary report of the DeichStube.

Bremen – Ole Werner has not revealed whether he will explicitly pronounce it as a ban to his team. And yet the head coach of SV Werder Bremen underlined more than clearly on Friday what he does not want to see at all shortly before the upcoming away game at RB Leipzig (Sunday, 17.30 CET in the DeichStube live ticker) in the team hotel: a running TV.

It will certainly "not be switched on two hours before our game," said Werner, which should mean something like: What VfB Stuttgart does on Sunday from 15.30 CET in its home game against Bayer Leverkusen does not matter to Werder Bremen. As a reminder, if VfL Bochum, who host FC Augsburg on Saturday, and Stuttgart lose their games, Werder would be assured of relegation before kick-off at RB Leipzig. Which, of course, is what everyone in the club is hoping for. But understandably, they don't want to say it. After all, a look at the competition on this 32nd matchday should not distract from the essentials, i.e. one's own performance.

Werder Bremen vs RB Leipzig in the live ticker: The back three must be rebuilt once again

"Everything that happens on other pitches is out of our hands. That's why we're only looking at our game, because we can't influence anything else," said Ole Werner, whose SV Werder Bremen faces one of the most difficult tasks in German professional football at the moment. Of the last five games, the Leipzig team under coach Marco Rose have won four, most recently the direct and enormously important duel in the fight for a Champions League qualifying place against SC Freiburg. RB Leipzig had also beaten the Breisgau side in the DFB-Pokal semi-finals shortly before, so that they will play Eintracht Frankfurt in the final for the fourth time in the past five years on 3 June. "Leipzig are a top team. They have a lot of individual quality in all positions and very few injuries at the moment, which was noticeable in their game in recent weeks," said Werner. Above all, the offensive of the third in the table has it all.

Christopher Nkunku, Timo Werner, Dani Olmo, Dominik Szoboszlai – these are all players who can make the difference at any time. "For us, it's about defending well and knowing that there isn't always a clear solution for everything," said Werner – explaining: "Leipzig's players are able to resolve things with their individual quality, even if you do well as a team or as an individual." Against this background, it is all the more bitter for Werder Bremen that two defenders are missing in Amos Pieper (certainly) and Milos Veljkovic (perhaps). Werner will probably have to rebuild his back three against RB Leipzig.

Werder Bremen vs RB Leipzig in the live ticker: Will coach Ole Werner's team manage to stay in the league?

And yet: Bremen are optimistic about the game against RB Leipzig, against whom they had a narrow 1-2 defeat in the first half of the season. Where does the confidence come from? "First and foremost, because we showed against Bayern Munich that we have a chance even against strong teams if we defend compactly and look for our moments," said Werner. In fact, Werder Bremen had kept up well against the record champions and repeatedly set pinpricks. They now want to build on this in Leipzig in front of around 5500 Bremen fans, who are expected in the Red Bull Arena.

And either in the knowledge that they still need points for the final relegation, or with the pleasant feeling of having already been saved - because the result from Bochum anyway and also the one from Stuttgart should have spread to the professionals of SV Werder Bremen despite the TV being switched off before kick-off. (dco)