Ole Werner: “That energy has spilled over to us”

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RB Leipzig

·21 November 2025

Ole Werner: “That energy has spilled over to us”

On Sunday afternoon, RB Leipzig host SV Werder Bremen at the Red Bull Arena (15:30 CET kick-off).

Head coach Ole Werner spoke to the media on Friday ahead of the Bundesliga home game against the Green-Whites. Here’s what he had to say about facing his former club.

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Latest squad news:

There is a question mark over Rômulo ahead of the home game against Werder Bremen. He has a slight tendon irritation in his knee area and is therefore taking things a little easier at the moment. A decision on whether he can play will be made after the final training session.
Castello Jr. is pain-free after his shoulder issues and ready for selection.
Kevin Kampl will miss out again on Sunday for private reasons.
El Chadaille Bitshiabu faces several weeks out due to a muscle injury in his right thigh.
All other first-team players are fit and available to face Bremen on Sunday.

Full squad update

Ole on facing his former club

“Playing against your former club is always something special, especially the first time. I’ve experienced playing against an old employer with a new one before. Preparation is surprisingly normal, but simply because of the number of questions that come your way, it becomes a special game. Whether it helps that I know the team will become clear on the pitch. Things change when a new coach comes in. Personnel-wise too, Werder have made changes. But in the Bundesliga, there aren’t many secrets left because of intensive scouting and data analysis.Winning promotion with Bremen back then was a great achievement, but it was also one you could expect, because we had one of the best squads in the 2. Bundesliga at the time. The years after that, when we managed to keep away from the relegation battle, were almost more challenging.Bremen made some late signings, all of whom have real quality. It’s a very good, cohesive team. They’re very flexible in possession, find good solutions and have developed more and more cutting edge in the final third. They’re on a very good path and, all in all, in a very good place.”

The success of the international players

“Personally, I could have done without the international break. When you’ve had a game that wasn’t so good beforehand, you want to get back on the pitch as soon as possible. But many of our boys have returned with personal and team success stories, so it was a very good international break for us.I’ve seen a lot of happy faces on the training pitch. We had a good session, and you could feel the energy from those positive moments spilling over to us. We hope we’ll see that on Sunday as well. We still have six games to play this year, including the cup. For us, it’s about building on what we’ve shown so far and continuing to take the next steps in our development.”

Assan Ouedraogo and Xaver Schlager

“I was delighted watching Assan’s celebration after his goal for Germany, because he’s a player who doesn’t really have a signature celebration yet. You could just see the pure joy – he didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He’s on a great path and has had to deal with a lot of setbacks. It’s fantastic that he can reward himself now.It’s very positive that Xaver was able to play both games for Austria. We hope we can steadily increase his workload and get him into a rhythm. We don’t need to talk about how important his role is for us. He’s our vice-captain and a very important player.”

Conrad Harder and Tidiam Gomis

“Both are extremely promising young lads. Conrad is a bit more extroverted, Tidiam is a little quieter. Conrad is more powerful, Tidiam is lighter on his feet and the better dribbler. Both are fantastic talents who are still at the start of their careers.I’m pleased that we have them here. They’re developing well and getting closer and closer. Conrad had a slight knock and picked up a minor issue in the first international game, but he has dealt with it well and is an option for Sunday.”

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