German league rules led to a game postponement between Werder Bremen and Frankfurt that could hurt Bremen’s already slim chances of avoiding relegation.
Werder Bremen was scheduled to play Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga last Sunday, but the game was postponed due to Frankfurt’s altered Europa League schedule.
Frankfurt was scheduled to play Red Bull Salzburg last Thursday, but powerful winds in Salzburg caused a 24-hour postponement of that game until Friday leaving Frankfurt with less than two days to recover before their Bundesliga game against Bremen (a German league rule requires 48 hours of recovery between games).
With a tie on Friday, Frankfurt advanced to the Europa League Round of 16, making rescheduling their Bundesliga match even more difficult.
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To complicate things even further, Frankfurt and Bremen play each other in the German DFB Cup on Wednesday.
This meant rescheduling the game to Monday was out of the question due to the 48-hour rule, and it also means that either team is guaranteed to advance to the next round of the Cup, further limiting the options.
Keeping the Europa League and DFB Cup schedules in mind, the worst-case scenario would be that the game is rescheduled between games 33 and 34 (away against Mainz and home against Köln) leaving Bremen to finish out their season with 3 games in 7 days.
This is particularly problematic now that it’s very clear Bremen is in a fight for their life to escape relegation.
Playing that many games in 7 days would be a tough task for anyone at the end of a grueling season, but Bremen will feel the pain even worse.
Their recent play has shown a team disorganized on defense and non-threatening on offense, a combination that has led to far more losses than they can afford.
Bremen’s also not fortunate enough to have a deep bench meaning they’ll have to play their strongest players until they’re too exhausted to move, or they’ll have to settle for a weaker line-up for one of those matches.
This will however be a prime opportunity for Bremen’s young Josh Sargent to shine. Sargent was a superstar coming into the team, but he’s been plagued with injury, sickness and lackluster performances this season. This is a now or never moment for Sargent to prove he’s worth keeping.
Meanwhile, a game behind the rest of the league, Bremen will likely remain at the bottom of the table regardless of performance, unable to collect the same amount of points as other clubs.
In a time where the coaching staff and players are desperately trying to maintain a positive outlook on their slowly crumbling season, the league’s refusal to bend the 48-hour rule or change the kick-off time has left them dejected and frustrated.
In an interview for the Werder Bremen website, the sporting director Frank Baumann said,
"The coaching team are disappointed, we all are. We prepared really well and were all looking forward to it. We would have started what is a crucial week with a game in front of our fans."
Now all Bremen can do is look forward to their Cup game on Wednesday. Their success in the Cup has been the one saving grace of their season and their advancement to the next round would certainly boost morale.