FIRST TEAM
05/03/2013

Nils Petersen: "Hoffenheim have got the right stuff for the top flight"

He is the striker that Hoffenheim's defence will have to stop on Saturday at 15.30 CET. Nils Petersen, who is on loan at Werder Bremen from Bayern München, leads the club's goalscoring list with eleven. achtzehn99.de spoke to the 24-year-old ahead of the game against Hoffenheim about Bremen's relegation battle, his potential return to Bayern and his expectations of the game on the weekend.

Nils, you have settled in well at Bremen with eleven goals and four assists. You are only there until the end of the season though. Does a return to Munich make sense for you?

I don't think the question makes sense. I have a contract with Bayern and I have to wait and see what their intentions are. In a sporting sense though, I am realistic enough to know that the chances of me getting game time in Munich will not be very high.”

The headlines in Bremen recently have been about everything off the football field. How do you go about staying focused on your own tasks? Yoga? Walking your dog?

Yeah, walking my dog definitely helps me relax. I spend a lot of time with my dad as well, who just so happens to be a football manager. It's a great situation for me to be in. I have been dealing with the situation pretty well even though it's obviously really difficult at the moment.

After ten games without a win for Bremen the relegation spots draw ever closer. What makes you optimistic that this season will finish with your side above that line?

As a team, we've just finished two intensive weeks of training. We have worked our way out of the errors we have continually made. During the season, those mistakes were ones we didn't really recognise. Now we have faced up to the relegation battle and no one is putting their head in the sand here. Everyone knows how important each of the last three games are, not just for us but for the whole city and the whole region.

In the game in Sinsheim, the teams were fairly even before you took advantage of a clinical edge in front of goal. Does that give you added confidence or is that irrelevant considering that there will be a number of personnel changes this time around?

The home game is done and dusted. There's nothing more to take from it. The situation has changed for both teams since then. I am sure that it will be a really passionate affair. We have the home advantage and will look to make the most of that on the pitch. The fans will be behind us 100 percent and I am confident we can give them something in return.

Hoffenheim have improved in recent weeks and have picked up points as well. What do you make of the team and what expectations have you got from the encounter?

We don't need to discuss the quality of Hoffenheim. They have got the right stuff for the top flight. Every individual has proved that they are of Bundesliga quality. It wasn't working out for Hoffenheim at the beginning of the season. At the start, it went down the drain. They've battled back though and have had to contend with a relegation battle for some time now. I believe they will save themselves but we want to be the team that they don't overcome.

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