UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
A Champions League first for Real Madrid on Tuesday
Real Madrid are set to enter unchartered territory when they take on their German opponents in the Champions League.
Even for Real Madrid in the Champions League, there are firsts. Los Blancos will take on Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart in the elite competition on Tuesday 17 September (3pm ET) at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in what will be the first time ever the two teams have met in continental football.
VfB Stuttgart are heading into the Champions League after finishing second in the Bundesliga last season, with Serhou Guirassy - who now plays for Borussia Dortmund - scoring 28 league goals. As well as the Guinean forward, Stuttgart also enjoyed the magic of Deniz Undav, who managed to score 18 in the domestic competition.
Stuttgart could prove tricky for Real Madrid
At the back, Alexander Nübel kept 11 clean sheets for VfB Stuttgart in 30 games, only being bettered by Lukas Hradecky of league champions Bayer Leverkusen. This may come as a concern for some Madridistas who are worried about the lack of creativity on the pitch during the opening stage of the season.
In short, manager Sebastian Hoeneß has created an incredibly solid side in Stuttgart, who will perhaps be able to cause problems for a Real Madrid squad that have also been decimated by injuries in recent weeks. Dani Ceballos, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Díaz are all out of action with various physical problems. Jude Bellingham has also been a doubt in the run-up to the game as he recovers from injury although he is likely to feature in the tie.
“We’re getting back two important players,” Ancelotti told reporters, adding “although we’ve also had the bad luck of losing one,”referring to Brahim Díaz, who went down in their win over Real Sociedad at the weekend. “Bellingham is fine, as are Tchouameni and Militão, who didn’t train today. Militão needed more time to recover and that’s why we thought we’d give him an extra day’s rest. He’ll be 100% available tomorrow.”
As for Stuttgart, Ancelotti admitted that they “did very well last year”, adding “the fact that they are here says a lot about the work done by their coach. They’re a very good team and they’re very well organised. I’m sure it’ll be an entertaining game”.