The stadium announcer at Bremen’s Weser Stadium did his job conscientiously again on Sunday. When announcing the starting line-up, he began, as always, with the goalkeeper and asked the audience to shout out the appropriate last name for the first name “Michael”. The audience also presented themselves conscientiously and responded with a loud “Zet-ter-reeeeer!”, whereupon the process was continued with all field players. And because everyone was so concentrated during this ritual, it wasn’t initially noticeable that the number 18 and the corresponding Naby Keita were simply left out.
At the beginning of the season, Keita was welcomed in Bremen like a kind of savior; his arrival was accompanied by the hope that there might be something more possible at SV Werder than an existence between no man’s land and a footballing struggle for survival. This hope recently ended with the midfielder’s consequent suspension for refusing to work, which is why no one was able to shout his recently popular name on Sunday. The message on a standing board that a restaurateur had placed in front of his restaurant in Bremen city center for the occasion matched the overall mood almost perfectly. “I have no expectations today,” it was written: “Maybe this will help.”
Werder should have gotten rid of their biggest relegation worries
Well, it helped. After two goals from striker Marvin Ducksch, Werder won 2-1 against the highly favored VfB Stuttgart and should now have scared away the last relegation ghosts that had recently been wreaking havoc in the Hanseatic city. With their 34 points, Bremen can now put their existential worries behind them this season.
At SV Werder they have once again put into practice the belief that this club is always capable of doing something special when the situation is serious and everyone is cuddly close together. The game against VfB was full of stories like this: There was striker Nick Woltemade, for example, who will move to opponents Stuttgart on a free transfer after the season; His powerful performance would certainly have appealed more to his future employer on another day. There was also the criticism-resistant coach Ole Werner, who was criticized a bit after seven games without a win in a row. Werner had mixed his team ideally: resolute in the close duels, robbing the spirited Stuttgart team of their wits without neglecting their own offensive drive.
The fans in the Weser Stadium create a kind of invisible protective wall in front of the Bremen goal
And then of course there was striker Marvin Ducksch, the double goalscorer celebrated by the fans and celebrating himself. When Ducksch was called up to the German national team in late autumn, he fell into a dip in form that frustrated him and some Bremen fans to such an extent that the crowd favorite had the feeling that he was no longer loved so deeply by the audience. Maybe someone has now pointed out to the erratic striker that the comment columns do not depict a real Weser stadium; In any case, Ducksch had found his playfulness and his instincts again. After a foul on Felix Agu, who had started in depth, it was the attacker who casually pushed the penalty into the corner to give Bremen the lead (28th minute). At the beginning of the second half, Ducksch scored with a shot from close range (49th) and then helped in an exemplary manner to extend the lead over time against the constantly racing Stuttgart team. VfB got close again through Deniz Undav (72′), but it was one of those days when the atmosphere in the Weserstadion creates a kind of invisible protective wall in front of the Bremen goal.
And sound waves were also not entirely uninvolved; They were heard loudest shortly before the end of the game when Ducksch was substituted. The name of the player who recently no longer felt loved echoed from the stands at an impressive volume. And who was Naby Keita again?