“I’ve never heard a figure like that for a centre-forward”: Lothar Matthäus hugely impressed by Niclas Füllkrug

Niclas Füllkrug failed to score as Werder Bremen lost 1-0 away to VfB Stuttgart. The returning Germany international still impressed Lothar Matthäus, Germany's record appearance-holder and a Sky pundit.

Matthäus explained: "When a Werder Bremen centre-forward has 70 touches in a match, you know how the game went, especially in the second half. I've never heard of a figure like that for a centre-forward."

Though he was "not the biggest fan of statistics", Matthäus stressed: "I really enjoyed watching how Niclas played in the second half, how he collected the ball, held it up and looked for better-placed team-mates. Watching Werder Bremen in the second half, that was modern football."

Werder improved after the break but suffered their second defeat of the season in Stuttgart, a setback after their successful recent weeks. Their mixed first half proved costly, with Maximilian Mittelstädt scoring the winner early on with a powerful left-footed shot (7th minute).

Füllkrug, who leads the scoring charts in Germany's top flight, spent much of the match up against Jeff Chabot. Stuttgart sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth saw that duel as the key to the home win. "That was an important foundation and the decisive duel, which Jeff won," Wohlgemuth told Sky.

The striker saw his duels with Chabot over the preceding 90 minutes differently: "You could deal with it quite cleverly. If you showed for the ball early in the half-space, you gave him a problem: should he come out with you or not? I felt he struggled with that a little. In the end, I kept hold of a lot of balls, most of them, in fact. Of course, he pulls and tugs and tries everything."

Despite the defeat, Füllkrug was far from downcast after Werder's second-half display. "We were much braver in the second half and had enough chances to score a goal," said the 33-year-old. "I'm still proud of my team. Brilliant bunch."

He reserved special praise for the defence: "Winning 60 per cent of our duels as a team speaks for itself. At the back, we were outstanding again in the way we defended against players like Undav and El Khannouss. Deniz is certainly strong in duels, but the way Marco (Friedl, editor's note) played again today was top-class. (…)"

Ahead of the international break, Werder remain fifth in the Bundesliga table, though Bayer Leverkusen can still push them down to sixth on Sunday.

Füllkrug will return to the Germany national team for the first time in more than a year. Germany coach Jürgen Klopp has called him up for the forthcoming Nations League matches against Serbia on 13 November and the Netherlands three days later.

The veteran said: "My mind is still fully on this match. I'm not yet thinking about going to the national team next week, so I'm not really looking forward to it yet. Jürgen Klopp has, of course, given it some thought. He discussed everything with me very openly and fairly, and communicated it early, too. It was always a very pleasant exchange. Of course I'm looking forward to it, and we'll see what happens."