“A bit like the coronavirus era.”

SV Werder Bremen head-coach Ole Werner, along with his players Mitchell Weiser and Leonardo Bittencourt, have commented on the first top tier atmosphere boycott scheduled to take place in German football stadiums this weekend. 

As part of ongoing protests against the recently approved DFL investor deal, German footballing ultras across the Bundesrepublik have resorted to one of their tried-and-true forms of voicing discontent. The famous “atmosphere boycotts” over the first 15 minutes of the course of a match – most famously utilized as a regular form of protest against “Marketingklub” RB Leipzig.- are back in full force this weekend.

The first such protest to take place in a Bundesliga stadium occurred during last night’s 2-2 draw between Borussia Mönchengladbach and SV Werder Bremen at Borussia Park. No signing or chanting took place in the Gladbach FanKurve over the initial quarter-of-an-hour. BMG ultras unveiled banners and throw chocolate coins onto the pitch, briefly disrupting the match.

Bremen starters Mitchell Weiser and Leonardo Bittencourt both commented on the scenes during their post-match interviews and pressers. Weiser admitted that he was somewhat perplexed to hear no support for the home side in the opening stages of the match. SV trainer Ole Werner also made mention of the action.

“It wasn’t fun at all,” Bittencourt said, “It reminded me of corona. Because we experienced it during the COVID period, it wasn’t unfamiliar for us to be able to hear each other on the pitch. But it’s nicer when the fans are signing.”

Werner agreed.

“It perhaps made things a bit easier for us coaches at the start of the game,” Werner noted, “I was a bit reminded of the coronavirus era. You can reach the players on the pitch. It was nevertheless good that it felt like a Bundesliga game again after 12 [15] minutes and the fans are a big part of that.”

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