Bulinews
·9 December 2024
Bulinews
·9 December 2024
After a shock 5-1 defeat against Crvena Zvezda in their last Champions League outing, VfB Stuttgart have their backs to the wall in Europe's top club competition.
That defeat has left Sebastian Hoeness' men with just four points from five games, so a win would be very welcome as they host Young Boys at the MHPArena on Wednesday.
The Swabians haven't lost since their defeat in Belgrade, and most recently staged a spirited comeback against Union Berlin to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win, with substitute Nick Woltemade netting a brace.
Unfortunately for Stuttgart, Woltemade isn't eligible for the Champions League, and neither is young striker Justin Diehl or defender Ramon Hendriks, adding to the pressure on an injury-hit squad.
Strikers El Bilal Touré and Deniz Undav are definitely out, as are Dan-Axel Zagadou and Luca Raimund, but winger Jamie Leweling could be back in contention after a lengthy injury lay-off.
Like Stuttgart, Young Boys suffered a painful defeat in their last Champions League game, which ended in a 6-1 loss to Atalanta.
The Swiss side are bottom of the standings with zero points from five games, making Stuttgart strong favorites.
Young Boys' 3-1 defeat to Sion at the weekend, which has left them ninth in the Swiss league table, doesn't make things look any better for the visitors, who will be without Chaiwa (ankle), Colley (muscular), Conte (knee), Janko (muscular) and Zoukrou (muscular).
Stuttgart: Nübel - Vagnoman, Rouault, Chabot, Mittelstädt - Karazor, Stiller - Rieder, Millot, Führich - Demirovic.
Young Boys: von Ballmoos - Blum, Camara, Benito, Hadjam - Niasse, Lauper - Joel Monteiro, Ugrinic, Virginius - Ganvoula.