Both coaches suspended after turbulent Bremen v Mainz match
Published : 01 Feb 2025, 20:56
Werder Bremen coach Ole Werner and his Mainz counterpart Bo Henriksen will both be suspended for next week's Bundesliga round in the wake of a turbulent match between the two sides on Friday night, reported dpa.
Werner was shown a red card after the final whistle of Friday's match Bremen won 1-0 with nine men, and Henriksen received a fourth booking which also automatically leads to a suspension.
Werner had furiously protested against dismissals of his players Niklas Stark and Marco Friedl in stoppage time. Stark had to go after a foul which led to a second booking, and Friedl suffered the same fate when he contested the decision against his team-mate.
Werner could also miss more matches than next week's game at leaders Bayern Munich because he was shown a straight red, making it a case for the German Football Federation (DFB) sports court which could speak out a longer ban.
Werner later admitted he had chosen wrong words towards the referee, and issued an apology.
"What I said wasn't incredibly nasty. But it's still correctly a red card," Werner said.
"That's why I can only apologise, first and foremost to the referee of course, but also to my team and my staff. Because it's not right and because I didn't fulfil my role in that situation."
Henriksen is already suspended for the second time this season after he was booked for complaining to a linesman, and will miss the match against Augsburg.
"That's a complete catastrophe. Of course it is my mistake," he said.