Kramer: We’re not going there to make up the numbers or for some sort of holiday. We’re doing well at the minute and are confident in ourselves. We’re not going to simply sit back and let them dictate play.
Question: Can you take anything from the Bremen games into the match against Barcelona?
Kramer: Nothing. The Bremen game is in the past. We’ll give it our all, like we always do.
Question: What is a realistic prediction for the game?
Kramer: It’s not a discussion that I really want to get into, but history shows that when you have a good day against them, anything is possible. You always have a chance.
Question: You had a tough start to the season but are getting back on track. Do you think you’re now playing the football expected of you?
Kramer: The only reason you can consider it to be a slow start was the dropped points against Darmstadt – you’re allowed to lose against Dortmund and in Munich. If we hadn’t lost at home to them we could be sat here with 15 points and talking about an excellent start to the campaign, so the victory in Bremen was important.
Source: DFB.de.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s trip to Bremen on Saturday went exactly to plan – they own 3-0 to claim all three points. They face another big challenge this week, as on Tuesday they travel to Barcelona in the Champions League. Ahead of the game, Christoph Kramer spoke to DFB.de.
Question: Mr. Kramer, you’ve just convincingly beaten Bremen 3-0. Was it as easy as it looked from the stands?
Christoph Kramer: It’s never easy, even though it may have looked that way. When you have as much possession as we did, you need to work hard to tire out the opposition. Once we did that to Bremen, we were able to get our goals. However, it’s certainly not easy; we have to work hard to make it happen.
Question: The first half was quite even but then you pushed on and got the win. What are your thoughts on the result?
Kramer: I actually wouldn’t say that the first half was that even because we had a lot of territory and had we been a bit more precise in their half, we would have scored more goals. Werder didn’t create many opportunities. We tired them out and then made the most of the gaps. We were in control of the game from start to finish.
Question: You won’t get this space against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Kramer: It’s another game entirely. It’s the sort of game that everyone looks forward to playing in. The stadium is huge and they are an excellent team – it’s like a dream. We worked hard to reach the Champions League last season, so we’re going to enjoy the game.
Question: Are you afraid of them, or of losing heavily?
Kramer: We’re not going there to make up the numbers or for some sort of holiday. We’re doing well at the minute and are confident in ourselves. We’re not going to simply sit back and let them dictate play.
Question: Can you take anything from the Bremen games into the match against Barcelona?
Kramer: Nothing. The Bremen game is in the past. We’ll give it our all, like we always do.
Question: What is a realistic prediction for the game?
Kramer: It’s not a discussion that I really want to get into, but history shows that when you have a good day against them, anything is possible. You always have a chance.
Question: You had a tough start to the season but are getting back on track. Do you think you’re now playing the football expected of you?
Kramer: The only reason you can consider it to be a slow start was the dropped points against Darmstadt – you’re allowed to lose against Dortmund and in Munich. If we hadn’t lost at home to them we could be sat here with 15 points and talking about an excellent start to the campaign, so the victory in Bremen was important.
Source: DFB.de.
