Berlin (AFP) – Werder Bremen coach Viktor Skripnik admits he fears for his job already after his side were crushed 6-0 by champions Bayern Munich in their opening game of the Bundesliga season on Friday.

“I’m in no-man’s land and I’m under the microscope now, I know,” he said after his team’s lacklustre display at the Allianz Arena.

The damaging result in Bavaria came less than a week after Bremen were knocked out of the German Cup in a shock 2-1 first-round defeat at third-division Sportfreunde Lotte. 

Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick for Bayern in Friday’s rout and only a good display from Werder goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald prevented the scoreline from being even more embarrassing.

Bremen managed just four shots at Manuel Neuer in Bayern’s goal and saw only 30 percent of possession.

Their captain Clemens Fritz admitted some of his players were scared of Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

“We were afraid to play football and we collapsed,” said Fritz.

“It’s what happens when you play without courage and show too much respect.

“Nobody wanted the ball. We weren’t at the races when it came to challenges.

“Every week, I have to explain the same crap,” he added, frustrated at having to find something positive to say about Bremen’s defeat.

Bremen played Champions League football as recently as the 2010/11 season but have finished in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table in each of the last four seasons, often battling to stay up.

Skripnik took charge in October 2014 after predecessor Robin Dutt was sacked and has lost 25 of his 60 league games, with 21 wins.

The Ukrainian says their next league game, at home to Augsburg in a fortnight after the international break, already feels like a must-win match to safeguard his job.

“The second match is already a final,” he said.

“I’m in the same boat as the players, we win and lose together, but I think a few people just stopped playing football.”