Werder Bremen interim coach Florian Kohfeldt has urged his players to keep their feet on the ground after thrashing Hannover 96 to pick up their first Bundesliga victory of the season on Sunday.
Finn Bartels opened the scoring for scoring for Werder shortly before halftime, before Germany international Max Kruse hit a second-half hat trick to secure a 4-0 win.
The victory leaves Werder in 16th on the Bundesliga table, level on points with 17th SC Freiburg but hovering above the relegation zone due to a superior goal difference.
“We need to be realistic about the victory. The win was extremely important, but it was also just our first win of the season. The table still doesn’t make great reading if you are a Werder fan,” Kohfeldt told the Werder Bremen website after the win.
“We are still in a tough predicament and we have a lot to do. It will be a really tough task in Leipzig.
“I am full of respect for Leipzig, but I am looking forward to the game – it is always a brilliant atmosphere there and a lovely stadium. We will formulate a game plan as a team. But RB Leipzig are the clear favourites.”
The match against RB Leipzig will be Kohfeldt’s third game in charge, after taking over when Alexander Nouri was sacked in late October.
The Werder Bremen reserve coach lost his first game at the helm (2-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt) and will hope for an against-the-odds win against the third-placed side on the Bundesliga table.
Werder Bremen coach Florian Kohfeldt watches during Sunday’s win. Photo: Srdjan Suki/EPA
Kohfeldt will be happy to see Kruse hitting form ahead of the encounter and scoring his first goals of the season.
“The win in itself is brilliant, but we have also waited such a long time for it. We did everything that the boss wanted us to and we played really good football,” Kruse said after the win.
“We worked a lot on our tactics in the international break and we were aggressive today.
“The win is really important, but we only have eight points so we are not going to stay on cloud nine for too long, we are going to carry on working hard. There is a long road ahead of us.”