Hardly is the international break over, and the scheduling stress continues. In Belgrade, VfB Stuttgart aims to build on their home victory against Bochum, but they must improve compared to their game against the league’s bottom team.
It could have been so promising: overcoming some tough opponents in the league, unexpectedly collecting points in the Champions League in Turin, and heading into the final stretch before Christmas with a more cohesive and confident team. Instead, we now have two injured strikers and two offensive players who featured against Bochum over the weekend—one of whom even scored—but are not registered for the Champions League squad. On the other hand, the team delivered a focused, though not particularly potent, performance against the bottom team. Therefore, it’s unlikely they will underestimate the Serbian serial champions, who, much like Bochum in the Bundesliga, are languishing at the bottom of the table in the Champions League. All in all, however, VfB will need to step up their game in this away match to match the demands of the competition and the challenge at hand. Belgrade dominates their domestic league and likely isn’t particularly skilled at bunkering in front of their own goal like some Bundesliga teams. That’s an opportunity we need to exploit better than we did in the home game against Sparta. What hasn’t improved much since the weekend, though, is the
Personnel situation
Undav and El Bilal are out, although the former might return to training by the end of the year. For El Bilal, however, the club already seems to be looking for a replacement in the winter transfer window. Leweling is on the mend, but this game comes too soon for him, and Al Dakhil is still ill. Then there are the long-term injuries to Zagadou and Raimund. At least Angelo Stiller seems fully fit again and was only substituted in the second half against Bochum. At the same time, Sebastian Hoeneß must already consider the not-so-easy game in Bremen on Saturday.
Possible Starting Lineup
In defense, I would rotate back and let Vagnoman and Rieder handle the right flank, with the option to bring on Stergiou or Stenzel and push Vagnoman forward. On the left, hopefully, Führich can build on his strong form in tandem with Mittelstädt. Millot moves further upfield again and will hopefully deliver some good balls to Ermedin Demirovic.
Statistics
VfB Stuttgart has never played against Red Star Belgrade but has faced their city rival Partizan. In November 2008, Mario Gomez scored a brace in the UEFA Cup. Red Star has won every league title since 2018 and currently leads the Serbian league by eleven points. However, they remain winless in the Champions League, making it hard to gauge their strength. An interesting aspect will be the role of Silas tonight. While he knows the team well, his strengths and weaknesses are also well-known to us. Another former VfB player is Milos Degenek, who made nine appearances for VfB II. The top scorer in the Serbian league is Cherif Ndiaye, with nine goals.
Conclusion
VfB Stuttgart has the quality to prevail in this match and take a big step closer to the knockout stage and two more Champions League games (and an interesting away trip?). Considering the squad situation, the upcoming games will demand a lot of patience and perseverance—both from the players and us fans. That’s why an away victory in Belgrade would be even more important to build confidence, integrate the currently fit players further, and improve the team’s processes, particularly on offense.
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