First-half collapse in Enschede

FC Twente established a commanding advantage over Werder Bremen during the opening 45 minutes of Friday's closed-doors friendly at De Grolsch Veste. Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink opened the scoring after five minutes by converting a penalty. Twente struck two more times within the opening quarter of an hour to build a 3-0 cushion. Marko Pjaca, who scored twice in the match, alongside Kristian Hlynsson expanded the lead to 4-0 after twenty minutes of play. Daan Rots scored Twente's fifth goal in the 40th minute before Werder midfielder Youri Regeer deflected the ball into his own net just before the interval to make the score 6-0.

Second half and match progression

Askel Adelgaard added a seventh goal for the Dutch side after the break, sealing the 7-0 final scoreline. Werder Bremen showed slight defensive improvement in the second half but failed to score a consolation goal. The match took place without spectators during the international fixture window, leaving both clubs to operate without several key players. Werder played without six internationals away on national team duty and five injured first-team players. However, experienced regulars including Arthur, Amos Pieper, Niclas Füllkrug, and Regeer featured in the starting lineup. Felix Agu returned to action for roughly 40 minutes in his first appearance since summer pre-season, though he left the pitch with recurring physical complaints.

Severe reaction from Werder management

The result followed a positive start to the Bundesliga season for Werder Bremen, who sit eighth in the table with seven points from four matches. Head coach Daniel Thioune expressed severe frustration with his squad's lack of competitiveness and canceled their scheduled rest day for Saturday.

“I had to compose myself briefly before I took apart an entire dressing room. I have zero understanding and no acceptance for that performance. I cannot accept something like that, especially regarding attitude. That was nothing today, in every area. We received a wake-up call that we cannot compete without 100 percent resilience, readiness, and quality.”

Thioune emphasized that the starting eleven consisted entirely of players aiming to compete at Bundesliga level who failed to demonstrate that standard. Werder sporting director Peter Niemeyer, who previously spent eight years in Twente's youth academy and senior squad, also described the showing as a total non-performance.

Preparations and upcoming fixtures

The cancellation of the rest day required the squad to report for immediate post-match analysis in Bremen on Saturday, coinciding with city celebrations for the Day of German Unity. Werder faces a difficult Bundesliga fixture on Friday against league leaders Borussia Dortmund. In contrast, Twente head coach John van den Brom praised the energy of his squad, noting that the team maintained momentum generated from a recent league fixture against PSV Eindhoven.

“I enjoyed the spirit that was in the team. Last week we were off and this week we really trained well.”

Twente prepares to resume Eredivisie play with an away match against Fortuna Sittard on Saturday, October 10. The Dutch club follows that domestic match with a UEFA Conference League fixture against Gibraltar's Lincoln Red Imps the following Thursday.