Argentine striker Franco di Santo made his much awaited return back from injury and he featured in the friendly against MSV Duisburg.
The match ended in a disappointing 3-1 defeat for the team struggling against relegation in the Bundesliga. Werder Bremen had won the last two friendly matches by the same score – 3-2 – but there was no repeat of the same after allowing their opposition to score more than two goals yet again. The club will have to improve a lot defensively if they are to climb out of the relegation zone. Werder Bremen are in the 16th place after having managed to take only one point per game so far.
They returned to the league action on 1 February with a home match against Hertha Berlin. Head coach Viktor Skripnik has been given a huge boost with the return of Di Santo, who has scored seven goals in just 11 matches this campaign.
These goals will be of paramount importance to the team in their efforts against relegation.Skripnik, though, accepted that the player looked clearly short of match fitness and that he will get better in the coming weeks. Before the start of the league campaign, Werder Bremen have yet another friendly against Hannover.
“It was a tough game for me. I still need to get more minutes under my belt to build up confidence in my knee, but overall I’m happy to be back on the pitch. The match in Duisburg helped me to get confidence again in my body and find my rhythm. I’m not in any pain. Everything looks good,” said Di Santo. “You can see he still needs time. But he’s definitely on the right track,” said the Werder Bremen coach,Viktor Skripnik, when asked about the fitness levels of one of his important players.