Preview: Can Stuttgart come out of their current rut against Bayern?
The Bavarians are not prone to losing “easy” games in the Bundesliga although Pep Guardiola never quite labels opponents as such. Stuttgart though has lost four of their five previous games in the Bundesliga. They started the second half of the season with a 1-2 defeat to Mainz which has left them languishing in twelfth in the standings.
Bayern meanwhile got started with a 0-2 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Gladbach had chances to score through Patrick Hermann but could not get past Bayern’s defense. The Bavarians will be without Bastian Schweinsteiger and Holger Badstuber who are both currently on rehabilitation. Franck Ribery will be unable to play due to a muscular problem. Arjen Robben is also out along with Javier Martinez and Daniel Van Buyten. Mario Mandzukic, after a slightly mysterious absence due to “not training well”, returns to the squad.
Stuttgart will be without Daniel Didavi, Patrick Funk and Marco Rojas. They would do well to remind themselves of the spirit they displayed in their previous meeting with Bayern. The two sides met in the DFB Pokal Final in June. Bayern took a three goal lead only to see Stuttgart strike twice. A tense finale was set up as a result and Stuttgart could have definitely gotten an equalizer.
A Bayern player with Stuttgart ties due to his loan spell there spoke about his former club recently. This is what Philipp Lahm had to say according to Bayern’s official website:
“We’ve always taken something from games there recently but it’s never been easy.”
Stuttgart’s Moritz Leitner who was born in Munich and featured for Bayern’s bitter town rivals 1860 München had this to say as noted by Bayern’s official website:
“We have to make sure we’re up for it against Bayern.”
Will Bayern romp to a routine win? Or will Vedad Ibisevic, Leitner and Stuttgart cause a shock?
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels:
Watch VfB Stuttgart vs Bayern München live on Wednesday, January 29, 2014:
In Canada at 14:00 ET on GolTV Canada
In the UK at 19:00 GMT on ESPN UK/HD
In the USA at 14:00 ET on GolTV USA
In Germany, viewers can tune into Sky Bundesliga 2 to watch the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Stuttgart-Bayern match page.
