SVWW narrow defeat to Champions in season finale
Pros |
It has been a quick turnaround for SV Wehen Wiesbaden between their match in Bremen last Sunday and their next game – away to VfL Osnabrück on Friday 6 March. It's another trip in the same direction for SVWW, but this time "there will hopefully be a different outcome," declared head coach Rüdiger Rehm at the pre-match press conference.
Personnel matters: Marc Wachs aside, there is a full complement of players in training. The minor niggles affecting Patrick Schönfeld (illness), Sidney Friede (bruising) and Marcel Titsch Rivero (neck problems) have been overcome.
The scenario: The Red & Blacks did not get rewarded for their courageous performance away to league leaders Bielefeld. "We're obviously not satisfied with the result," explained the coach, who felt that his team – as has been the case in other recent games – had chances. SVWW were solid defensively too and kept Fabian Klos at arm's length for much of the match, but could not prevent the top-scorer from grabbing a winner with a quarter of an hour to go.
Outlook: "What matters is to get points on the board and not only to play well," said Rehm succinctly. The coach of the Red & Blacks has not ruled out the possibility of making changes in one or two positions. "But we're not going to rotate five players," he said, adding: "What we need to start doing is winning the games in which we're on an equal footing with our opponents. We have 10 finals ahead of us. The first one of them is on Friday evening."
The opposition: Fellow promoted outfit Osnabrück had a good first half of the season, yet the team from the Bremer Brücke are still waiting for their first victory of 2020. That means that Friday evening's fixture will be a meeting between two clubs who will both be hoping to "reverse the trend", according to the SVWW coach. "We must show the greatest desire," added Rehm, who is looking forward to an away match with an intense and emotional atmosphere. The Red & Blacks want to "soak up" this atmosphere at an almost sold-out Stadion an der Bremer Brücke.
Here's what Stefan Aigner had to say: "We've produced good performances, but at the moment we're not managing to take the lead or to add a second goal," explained the Number 32. "What really matters in a phase like this is to have a team that sticks together and doesn't fall apart. I'm absolutely convinced that we're this kind of team and that we'll get our rewards – in an ideal world starting on Friday."
Man of the Match: As always, you have the opportunity to vote for your Man of the Match. Simply cast your vote in the Match Center on the SVWW website anytime between kick-off and midnight on the day of the game and win a shirt signed by the Man of the Match!