Hip problems to sideline Bremen’s Stark indefinitely

SV Werder Bremen confirmed the long-term loss of defender Niklas Stark for “several weeks” on Tuesday. 

Already missing defender Amos Pieper (ankle injury) and Milos Veljkovic (knee injury), SV Werder Bremen will have to contend with another loss to their defensive corps. Regular starter Niklas Stark – subbed off during last Saturday’s home loss to 1. FC Heidenheim – is in for an extended break due to persistent hip problems. This was confirmed by SV licensing head Clemens Fritz on Tuesday, who spoke of a break of “several weeks”.

Stark has made 13 league appearances (11 starts) for Ole Werner’s Hanseaten thus far this season. He’s netted two goals and compiled an impressive 60 percent tackling rate across all his logged minutes. The heavily capped German youth international (twice capped for Germany at senior level) has featured in seven of Werder’s last eight league starting XIs. He scored against Augsburg (round 14) and Bochum (round 17).

Stark’s replacement on Saturday – newly signed Argentine central defender Julian Malatini – looks to be in line for his first Bundesliga start against Köln on Friday. Malatini scored in his Bundesliga debut seconds after coming off the bench as a late sub in Bremen’s round 19 victory over Freiburg. Bremen look to rebound from their recent loss against Heidenheim. Talismanic wingback Mitchell Weiser looks to again be available after an injury break.

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