Stuttgart and Dortmund ready for ‘in-form’ test

January 30, 2010

Sunday’s Bundesliga clash of VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund appears to be a test of preserving form when the in-form duo meet at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

The Swabians have won their last three games and are unbeaten since Christian Gross took over from Markus Babbel in December.

Meanwhile, the Westphalians have not lost since September, winning nine and drawing three of their last 12 matches.

But their coach Jurgen Klopp has lost every time he has visited Stuttgart, be it with Dortmund or his former club Mainz. Nevertheless, he says that negative record is there to be broken.

“The probability of a streak ending increases the longer it goes on,” he said.

“We want to play a really good game there.”

A win for Dortmund could take them as high as second in the table, should results elsewhere go their way, while Stuttgart could break into the top half of the table with victory.

But Gross, who took over the Stuttgart reins with the team stuck in the relegation zone, has not forgotten his prime objective for the season.

“Dortmund are the clear favourites in my eyes,” he said.

“They want to qualify for Europe while we are still concentrating on avoiding relegation.”

Gross will welcome Jens Lehmann back into his goal this weekend after his three-game suspension came to an end following last weekend’s win over Freiburg. He replaces Sven Ulreich.

Klopp has to do without Sven Bender, who has played in the last 11 unbeaten matches, due to a knee infection. Tamas Hajnal is a candidate to replace him in the centre of midfield.

Tags: bender, Borussia, borussia dortmund, Bundesliga, christian gross, clash, dortmund, Europe, favourites, game suspension, good game, hajnal, jens lehmann, jurgen klopp, markus babbel, mercedes benz, prime objective, probability, reins, relegation zone, stuttgart, Sven Bender, Sven Ulreich, swabians, three games, vfb stuttgart

Babbel: This is just the start

November 1, 2009

Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel insists there is still a lot of work to do even if his job seems a little safer after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich.

Babbel’s future charge of the Swabians has been in much doubt, not least since they crashed out of the DFB-Pokal in midweek to second-division opposition.

But holding Bayern to a draw is an achievement which should at least quell the rumours surrounding his position for a few days.

“Of course I am not so happy that I can say this was the turning point, but I must compliment my team for fighting against one of the best teams in Europe,” he said.

“But we have now got to pay particular attention and not make everything out to be so positive.”

Stuttgart now need to show a similar performance against another of Europe’s leading clubs, Sevilla, in the Champions League in midweek to revive their hopes of reaching the second round of that competition.

“We have got to take the positives from this game with us to Seville,” said midfielder Roberto Hilbert on the club’s official website.

Bayern Munich also have a crucial Champions League fixture on the horizon and a repeat of this result against Bordeaux on Tuesday would severely jeopardise their hopes of reaching the second round.

“We have got to win against Bordeaux, otherwise it is going to be hard to go through,” admitted general manager Uli Hoeness.

“We have high expectations in the Champions League, therefore I am a bit nervous.”

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: Bayern, bayern munich, Bordeaux, champions league, compliment, dfb pokal, Europe, few days, high expectations, horizon, league fixture, markus babbel, midfielder, midweek, opposition, rajput, Roberto Hilbert, rumours, SEVILLA, stuttgart, swabians, turning point, uli

Time to back Babbel, says Heldt

October 30, 2009

Stuttgart director of sport Horst Heldt has called on everybody to club together to help under-fire coach Markus Babbel lead them out of a crisis.

Babbel’s position as coach of the Swabians was confirmed on Wednesday despite defeat by Greuther Furth in the DFB-Pokal, but only a positive result against Bayern Munich on Saturday can save him from further castigation.

And after showing his and the board’s full backing for Babbel, Heldt has called on the whole club to get behind him.

“We can only get out of this crisis together,” he said. “We now need a community and that does not only mean on the field, but off it also.

“We need our fans to help us out of this difficult situation.”

Babbel would probably have preferred anybody but Bayern as opponents, but Heldt said the “name of the opponent doesn’t matter one bit” and that the “important thing is that the team does all it can to win again”.

Bayern appear to have left their own crisis behind them and have moved up to within four points of the joint league leaders Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen.

However, trouble is always brewing at Bayern and this time it comes in the shape of central defender Martin Demichelis who has criticised coach Louis van Gaal in an interview with the Bild newspaper.

“I am not the only player who has been out for a long time, yet I have to fight for my place back in the team. That makes me angry and bitter,” he said.

“I am fit and am doing everything to help this team and I would have expected the same kind of support that other players who were making a comeback received.”

Demichelis was referring to Mark van Bommel and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who walked straight back into the team after injury whereas he has had to sit on the bench in the last few games.

But he has vowed to knuckle down and prove Van Gaal he is wrong to leave him out.

“I have loved and defended this shirt for seven years and it is like my second skin,” he added. “But I also know that a professional footballer cannot rest on his laurels so I will fight to the death.”

Demichelis will be given his chance in next week’s Champions League tie against Bordeaux, when Daniel van Buyten will be suspended, but Van Gaal is unlikely to make any changes to his side this weekend.

Abhimanyu Rajput