Suzuki (29th/48th/55th) with his first hat-trick in the 26th Bundesliga game and Igor Matanovic (45th) were successful for Freiburg. The Breisgauer team around former Werder goalkeeper Mio Backhaus qualified for the group phase of the Conference League on Thursday. Bremen suffered their fifth defeat in a row against SC, and Backhaus didn't look good when Dariusz Stalmach scored a consolation goal (76'). For Füllkrug it was over after about an hour.
Füllkrug played in the German elite class for the first time since May 2024. The striker had already been in the starting line-up in the first round game of the DFB Cup against Lower Saxony's top division club Lüneburger SK Hansa - and scored directly. In the 3-0 win, the 33-year-old, who once became a national player and Bundesliga top scorer on the Weser, scored the interim 2-0 with a penalty kick four days after his loan move from English Premier League relegated West Ham United.
Shortly before kick-off, Bremen had to cope with the news that Jens Stage had been out for months due to a serious muscle injury. “He is an absolute top performer and is difficult to replace,” said coach Daniel Thioune on Dazn. Sports director Clemens Fritz ("It's a huge shock") is already looking for a replacement for the Danish midfielder, who will be missing until the end of the year: "It's our turn." According to Kicker, Youri Regeer is due to be loaned out from Ajax Amsterdam.
The 34,700 spectators in the sold-out Freiburg stadium saw strong guests at the beginning. The Bremen team played forward with determination. Füllkrug was neatly tied in. The hosts, who had handed over their former goalkeeper Noah Atubolu to league rivals Eintracht Frankfurt just a few days ago, initially found it difficult.
But the Europa League finalist became significantly stronger after just under 20 minutes. From this point on, Füllkrug was primarily Werder's front defender. As a striker, the veteran mostly hung in the air, there wasn't much coming from Bremen on the offensive, Freiburg was in control. The SC lead came unsurprisingly from Suzuki's header after a corner from Jan-Niklas Beste.
Even after falling behind, Werder was almost exclusively occupied on defense, and Füllkrug was almost nowhere to be seen. Matanovic increased the score with a remarkable long-range shot before the break. At the start of the second half, Werder wasn't really back on the pitch when Suzuki scored again after Derry Scherhant's assist. Shortly afterwards, Suzuki pushed in on an assist from Matanovic. Füllkrug caused danger twice in the 57th and 59th minutes, and in the 61st minute he had to give way to Cedric Itten.
Schalke loses in Augsburg under the eyes of national coach Jürgen Klopp
Schalke 04 suffered its first dampener in its eagerly awaited Bundesliga comeback after 1,191 days. Coach Miron Muslic's team lost 0:3 (0:1) at FC Augsburg. There is now a risk of a false start for the promoted team: the overwhelming double winner FC Bayern awaits on the second matchday on Saturday (6.30 p.m./Sky).
Under the eyes of national coach Jürgen Klopp, Michael Gregoritsch put FCA in the lead (18th) and gave his coach Manuel Baum a nice present for his 47th birthday. The strong Anton Kade (79th) and Rodrigo Ribeiro (90th + 2) ensured the final score. For Augsburg it was the first home win in the tenth attempt since promotion in 2011. However, Schalke played outnumbered from the 62nd minute onwards: Ron Schallenberg saw red after an emergency stop.
Schalke initially started their first Bundesliga game in over three years (2:4 against Leipzig) without old star Edin Dzeko and Robin Gosens - but with a lot of euphoria. Most recently, over 100,000 fans came to the “Schalke-Tach”, and the Knappen were also loudly supported by around 5,000 supporters at the FCA.
Klopp was also a keen observer, making his second highly regarded appearance of the weekend after the league opener between FC Bayern and Stuttgart on Friday (5-1). "It's nice that the national coach is there," said Baum and joked: Klopp needs "a really big piece of paper when it comes to German players."
