Preview: “Tremendous excitement” | OneFootball

Nearly 100 days since their last league encounter, Eintracht kick off the new Bundesliga campaign with a fixture steeped in history, as SV Werder Bremen visit Deutsche Bank Park.

The backdrop

No more friendly matches and pre-season preparations. Three months to the day since the dramatic, but successful, final-day victory at SC Freiburg, Eintracht began the 2025/26 season with a comfortable 5-0 win over FV Engers 07 in the DFB Cup on Sunday. Now, nearly 100 days since securing their Champions League place in Breisgau, the Eagles are finally back in Bundesliga action this weekend – a “nice” feeling, according to Paxten Aaronson. Eintracht get their league campaign under way against SV Werder Bremen at Deutsche Bank Park on Saturday 23 August, kicking off at 15:30 CEST. “We’ll have to give our all”

“We’re all pleased to be getting going again, there’s tremendous excitement,” said Eintracht captain Robin Koch, adding: “Bremen will definitely be heading into the game with a bit of frustration after their cup defeat. They’ll want to show from the first minute that they’re back. We’ll have to give our all and hold our own right from the get-go, particularly here at home.”

Bremen ended the 2024/25 campaign in eighth place on 51 points – their best top-flight finish in six years – but bowed out of the DFB Cup early after losing 1-0 at Arminia Bielefeld on Friday. “Up the pace of our game”

“It’s going to be a completely different game compared to Engers,” according to sporting director Timmo Hardung. “Everyone will need to be that little bit more aggressive in the counter-press. We can’t afford to leave so much space in defence if we want to avoid unnecessary counter-attacks, and we’ll need to up the pace of our game.”

New face on the sidelines

Werder have a new coach in the dugout in Horst Steffen, who spent almost seven years at SV Elversberg before moving to Bremen. He led the Saarland club from the fourth-tier Regionalliga to the brink of the Bundesliga, only to suffer a last-gasp defeat against 1. FC Heidenheim in the promotion/relegation play-off. Needless to say, the Eagles will be determined to spoil his league debut as Bremen boss and get their own campaign off to a winning start.