After a recovery day on Monday, the working week for the VfB squad began on Tuesday afternoon with an open training session – with a point on the board and a good mood in the camp. “It felt really good and it was the fans who carried us to the draw against Leipzig,” described Sasa Kalajdzic. “They pushed us so that we defended our goal with everything we had. Whatever got through our wall, Flo [Müller] saved brilliantly. He had an immense game and is very important for us. Similar to the match against Bayern last season, he always gave us the feeling that we had a chance of getting a point.”
Leipzig undoubtedly made the better start in the match, which Kalajdzic admits his team “struggled with” at first. “Then we made a change to the system and that worked a lot better. We were much more in the game, played really well and showed what we’re about. We had our chances and then got the reward with the goal. I’m pleased that Naoui [Ahamada] scored his first Bundesliga goal. He already showed last season what he’s capable of,” said the striker, adding: “There were also lots of moves that we could’ve executed better, though. There’s certainly room for improvement, but for the first match it was good.”
Now the focus is on the first away outing of the 2022/23 season, which sees the Cannstatt boys taking on Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 15:30 CEST). “It’s going to be a nice game for football fanatics and fans. Like us, Bremen has a great fan culture,” said Kalajdzic, who is yet to play in front of fans at the Weserstadion with VfB due to the coronavirus pandemic and the two clubs being in different leagues. “I’ve heard from my Austria teammate Marco Friedl at Werder that it’s brilliant playing at the Weserstadion. It’s certainly going to be a great afternoon, hopefully with the better ending for us.”