The announcement on Wednesday afternoon came as a complete surprise to many: Thomas Hitzlsperger will not extend his contract as the CEO at VfB Stuttgart. The former midfielder, who became a champion of Germany with the Swabian team in 2007, will finish in the autumn of 2022. "I'm very grateful for the years together and I will remain emotionally connected to VfB in the future," said the 39-year-old. After taking up his post in 2019, he worked alongside president Claus Vogt, sporting director Sven Mislintat and coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and brought about a significant upturn at Stuttgart that saw the club return from the second division to Germany's top flight. As a newly promoted club, VfB impressed with young players and exciting attacking football and just missed out on qualifying for the Conference League in ninth place. The first two matches of this season also provided goal fests with a 6-0 victory over BFC Dynamo in the DFB Cup and a 5-1 win against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. However, since then there has been a spanner in the works for the Swabians. After two defeats away to Leipzig (0-4) and at home to Freiburg (2-3), Matarazzo's team picked up a point at Frankfurt despite being a man down and the coach categorised the side’s morale after the game as "extremely important." He added: "That can give us a boost in terms of mentality."
The fact VfB are not yet fully up to speed is also due to bad luck with injuries that has affected the Swabians this term. The two shooting stars of last season, winger Silas and centre forward Kalajdzic are currently sidelined – and will probably be out for a long time. While Silas is likely to be out of action until November after suffering a torn cruciate in the spring, Kalajdzic will almost certainly not play again this year after suffering a shoulder injury in Leipzig. And beyond the two stars of the previous season, the VfB attack is also rather weakened at the moment. The 17-year-old striker Mohamed Sankoh suffered a serious knee injury in the first game and has been ruled out for months; for new signing Chris Führich, who has not yet appeared for the club due to a fractured collarbone, the game against the Werkself has also come to early. And Philip Förster is also a doubt for this match due to an infection. The injury list is shorter for the defence but Stuttgart do have one new absentee here: Central defender Waldemar Anton was shown a red card at Frankfurt for a professional foul and is suspended for the match against the Werkself.
Nevertheless: There are also positive announcements in terms of personnel. Midfielder Orel Mangala celebrated his comeback as a substitute at Frankfurt after being out injured for six months and he could be a candidate to start against Bayer 04. And: Omar Marmoush, brought in on loan from VfL Wolfsburg just before the end of the transfer window, impressed in his debut for VfB and he not only scored against Frankfurt to make it 1-1 but he was a constant threat in attack. "You could see he's very good even when he doesn't have much space," praised Matarazzo.
After the serious injuries to Silas and Kalajdzic there is still one high flyer from last season: The Japanese player Wataru Endo is "already" 28 years old but he played his way into the hearts of the VfB fans last season and also came to the attention of people regularly watch Stuttgart matches. Endo wins a lot of possession in defensive midfield, is full of running and also knows how to set up counter-attacks. Together with Mangala, who is now back alongside him, Endo was at the heart of Matarazzo's 3-4-2-1 system last season. Endo, who just missed out on a medal in the Olympic Games at home in Japan in the summer, is now the captain at VfB – and he seems increasingly happy in front of the opposition net: He has scored one goal and provided one assist in the first four matches.
Stuttgart are still missing the balance that marked the team out over long stretches of last season. The team appeared susceptible in defence in the defeats at Leipzig and against Frankfurt with nine goals and a total of 63 shots on goal conceded, that is the fourth highest number after four matches in the Bundesliga. Matarazzo set up his team at Frankfurt in a clearly more defence formation to bring about the necessary stability. That worked – albeit at the cost of the attack, which really never got going; striker Marmoush was often left on his own up front.
VfB have been hit hard by the injuries to a number of key players. The football the Swabians produced over large parts of last season is currently difficult to reproduce. Nevertheless, the squad has enough talent and potential development to be able to do well in the Bundesliga this season – and if Silas and Kalajdzic return to their former strength after their injuries, then VfB could be one of the top teams in the second half of the season.
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Today sees Bayer 04 go head-to-head with their next direct rivals in the race for Champions League qualification (kick-off 15:30 CEST). Opponents Stuttgart are currently fifth in the table, level on points with the Werkself but one place below them due to a three-goal inferior goal difference. The Black and Reds' record at Bad Cannstatt tells a clearer story: they've not lost at VfB for over 16 years. One important factor in securing what would be three crucial points away from home is Leverkusen's strength on the counter-attack. Whilst Stuttgart are also extremely dangerous going forward, they will be without their captain. Today’s matchday news.
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Another showdown in the race for the Champions League places takes place in Swabia: on Saturday 9 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST), the Werkself visit VfB Stuttgart, who are only behind on goal difference. In his pre-match press conference, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about confidence, excitement and mentality.
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Reinforcement in attack: Bayer 04 Leverkusen have secured the transfer of striker Maja Sternad from Bundesliga rivals SV Werder Bremen. The 22-year-old has signed a contract until 30 June 2028.
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It's a thrilling situation: as the season draws to a close, Stuttgart and Bayer 04 are heading into the home stretch almost neck and neck. After 32 games, with 17 wins, seven draws and eight defeats each, both teams are on 58 points. Even in terms of goals scored, VfB and the Werkself are level on 66. The Black and Reds have conceded just three fewer goals (43) than their rivals (46), which is why they sit one place behind fourth-placed Leverkusen. This Saturday, 9 May (kick-off: 15.30 CEST), the two teams go head to head at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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