When Werder Bremen and SC Freiburg meet in their DFB-Pokal last 16 clash on Wednesday, it will be a game between a pair of teams who currently occupy two spots in the Bundesliga’s bottom third. While the men from Breisgau have eased the pressure that was building on them by going unbeaten in their last five, Werder Bremen are still in the relegation zone. Both teams threw away two goal leads their last time out, and both forced to settle for a point after very late equalisers. Both will look to get back to winning ways in the cup.
It will be the second time that the two clubs have met eachother in the cup, with the first coming on 31st October 2000 in the second round. SC Freiburg ran out winners on that day after a late winner from Adel Sellimi.
The sides have met a total of 35 times at the Bundesliga level, with Werder leading the series with 21 wins to their name. Freiburg have taken all three points eight times, while the spoils were shared on six occasions. Bremen have won twice against Freiburg by a 6-0 scoreline, first in the 2004/2005 season followed by another such win in the 2009/2010 campaign. Both victories came away from home.
Werder strong at home
Bremen are currently on a 36 game unbeaten run in the cup when playing at home (32 wins plus 4 wins on penalties). That’s a DFB-Pokal record. Their last cup loss at home came in April 1988 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final. This will be the first time since the 2014/2015 season that SC Freiburg have made it to the last 16. They were knocked out in the second round in each of the last two years. Freiburg came out on top the last time they played at this stage in a 2-1 win over Cologne.
Freiburg are currently on a very poor run against fellow Bundesliga sides in the cup - especially away from home. Out of ten games that they have played against Bundesliga teams, they have lost eight.