Thioune “incredibly proud” after Bremen earn point in Stuttgart

Werder Bremen left the MHPArena with a hard-earned point against Champions League-chasing opposition on Sunday evening. Jens Stage’s early strike had the visitors in front until the hour mark, before substitute Ermedin Demirović rescued a point for Stuttgart.

Head coach Daniel Thioune took plenty of positives from the performance:

“Many teams haven’t gotten much in Stuttgart, so it’s already a small success for us. I think we can live very well with the one point. It feels good because I saw a brutally composed defensive performance from my team. We knew we’d have to suffer here – even after taking a 1-0 lead. A little more relief would have done us good. First and foremost, I’m incredibly proud of this team performance and that we didn’t leave the pitch as losers.”

Goalscorer Stage echoed his coach’s sentiments:

“Personally, I’m struggling a bit with my body at the moment. But as a team, we put in a superb performance for long stretches today. We were really strong and dangerous in the first half, but in the second half Stuttgart’s quality showed. That made it difficult for us, and we fought until the very last second. Respect to the lads for how they kept going until the end – that was really good.

This is incredibly important for our momentum, especially after last week’s win. Of course, we’d love three points – but we’ll take the point. It keeps our confidence alive.”

Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, who made several key saves, was also satisfied with his side’s efforts:

“Based on the flow of the game, we can be satisfied with a point, so we’ll take it. For some, it feels more like a win than for others. We hope to seal survival next week.”

Bremen now sit six points clear of the relegation play-off spot with three games remaining. They will look to secure their Bundesliga status next weekend when they host FC Augsburg at the Weserstadion.