“In Glasgow the lads got to see that they can still win games and score goals. We’ll need to convince in the same way against the league leaders.

“We will need to repeat the virtues from Glasgow once again. There we were willing to do the leg work, we were compact and created lots of chances on goal.”

Leverkusen have yet to lose domestically. Part of their success can probably be attributed to the fact that they have no European or Cup competitions to worry about, so they can fully focus on the Bundesliga. It’s been a sharp campaign in all facets for Leverkusen thus far. They have conceded a league-low 9 goals in 13 matches and scored 26, good for 3rd overall. Stuttgart should have the good fortune of Tasci back in the starting XI for the first time since injuring his foot against Sevilla. I’d expect to see more of Sebastian Rudy who garnered high praises from Babbel over the week. Maybe this is blasphemous, but was anybody else not disappointed to see Hitz missing from the starting XI against Rangers? I’d expect to see him back there on Sunday.

Stuttgart sit in the relegation zone right now and 12 points away from European competition. It’s not too late to get there, but the window is getting closer to closing each week we draw with a bottom of the table club like HSV or lose outright. Yeah the midweek win was great but there’s no time to harp on it or settle.

I’ll try and be on here during the match but no guarantees. Up Stuttgart-

Perhaps the biggest news for the club coming out of the break is the shuffle of healthy comebacks and newly wounded (mostly the latter.) Cacau couldn’t have picked a better time to make his anticipated return given the injury blow to Schieber on international duty. Osorio, Tasci, and Khedira will similarly be unavailable. All these injuries couldn’t have come at a more crucial junction in the season. After this weekend’s match Stuttgart will clash in a huge matchup with Rangers away to effectively determine their Champions League fate.

Berlin have struggled to put the ball in the back of the net all year and I anticipate their struggles to continue on the road to a desperate Stuttgart side. Couple that with the suspensions of Raffael and Sascha Burchert Berlin will only have one true striker available: Artur Wichniarek. Stuttgart are banged up on their back line but should be able to hold Berlin down. I anticipate a close game but ultimately Stuttgart coming out on top, either 1-0 or 2-0. A 0-0 draw would, well, suck.

Borussia Monchengladbach sit two points ahead of Stuttgart in the table. Their form has also been shabby as of late but have picked it up the past 2 matches with a draw and a win. Borussia Monchengladbach are amongst the worst in conceding goals which is a welcome sign considering the trouble Stuttgart has had in finishing throughout the year.

Expect Babbel to once again shake up the lineup this weekend, juggling injuries and using the midweek clash as a barometer. Babbel has “strongly hinted” at starting Sebastian Rudy presumably over Roberto Hilbert. Babbel is also fully aware that his job is on the line and I’m sure will put out his finest XI to pick up a much needed win. Perhaps he realizes that another mediocre performance against a weaker team could do him in for good. News has leaked out that some journalists near the visitor’s locker room on Wednesday overheard Babbel’s spirited (read: pissed off) halftime speech with juicy excerpts like these coming out (taken from bild.de):

“We are absolutely scared stiff,

“But the only person here who has to have any fear is me. It is my job which is on the line.

“But I can tell you, I am not going to stick up for the team which I saw in the first half. That was catastrophic.”

He likened his rousing halftime speech to the way that sometimes a father has to yell at his children. It certainly struck a chord in Kuzmanovic who after scoring ran up and hugged Babbel, later citing the halftime speech as much needed upliftment to everyone on the club. I for one am thrilled to hear this. I’ll take the cornered animal fighting for his life any day; it’s all about survival. And if that means more rants and disowning your team if they are playing like crap at halftime then so be it.

Anyways I like Stuttgart’s chances. I haven’t done a score prediction in a while (I think my cumulative record is somewhere around 0-37) but here goes:

Borussia M’gladbach 2 Vfb Stuttgart 3

Am I being naive in still dreaming of European qualification for next year? Perhaps. And maybe I sound like a broken Horst Heldt record here but I believe in this team and by and large the players available to win and make a run at it. While the higher ups continue to preach that Babbel’s job is safe everyone and their mother knows that just isn’t the case; it can’t be. With that in mind I see a spirited effort this weekend not only to right the ship in the domestic table but they’re also fighting for Babbel’s job. Yep, it’s pretty much against logic. Bayern have looked sharper as of late, smoking Eintracht Frankfurt during the week 4-0 in DFB-Pokal competition and also having won their last 2 in the Bundesliga. Stats be damned.

Anyways as always leave your comments here before, during, and after the match. Also, peep the Bayern Offside for a live blog; I’ll be jumping on there too.

Up Stuttgart-

Cut to a year later. Stuttgart are lower half of the table, struggling both domestically and abroad. Our manager, who missed his last required coach training session, is dangerously close to losing his job. Course organizer, Frank Wormuth:

“We are okay up to the start of November, but if he should be absent again after that, then we will have to think about our options.”

Not sure what he means by “options” but they can’t be good. You can read the article here. Note: It’s in German. It’s basically outlining what you need to graduate. You need to attend a certain percentage of the entire course (around 90%) and a certain percentage of individual subject areas (around 80%.) On top of that is the examination in March.

It sounds like Hleb will be back and available for the match which is a welcome sight for sore eyes. Here’s to hoping Schieber can keep up his form that he’s shown as of late, and maybe we can get a boost from the internationals.

Anyways, as always, rant your comments before, during, and after the match. Up Stuttgart-

There are times when you face an opponent who plain and simple outplays you. I think Pizarro’s early goal took the proverbial wind out of Stuttgart’s sail. That being said, there are some glaring concerns that Stuttgart need to deal with. It’s the same old story every week.

There’s clearly a lack of inspiration on the Stuttgart side, which is sad considering the position we’re in playing at the highest level of European competition in addition to domestic and cup competitions. All top flight players gravitate towards teams that are playing in all major competitions. But Stuttgart seem to lack that competitive edge and drive that was so evident in their run last year. It’s clear that Babbel’s installation last year sparked the team with a wonderful late run that put them in the position they’re in this year. But clearly his motivating tactics have worn thin on the players because they aren’t playing with that same drive from only a year back.

There’s also certainly a problem with the overall makeup of the team. Perhaps the personnel is just not right for the tactics Babbel is trying to employ, at which point you have to ask yourself, do we blame the players for not being able to make the grade, or do we blame the manager for not adjusting his gameplan to the strengths that the present squad has? He’s certainly rotated enough players in and out, trying to find some apparently mystical combination of midfielders and strikers to make the offense click. It just hasn’t been there, at least not yet. As one reader suggested, maybe we’re just lacking that creative central midfielder that more successful teams have. Hleb is out, and his return is apparently unclear. And while I certainly agree that it’d be nice to have that, it’s not like we lost a big presence like that in the midfield last year like Werder lost Diego. We did, however, lose the consistent goal scoring threat that we’ve always been able to rely on, and that’s certainly a part of the problem.

Anyways, I don’t think there’s much more to say at this point that isn’t just more speculation and grumbling. We all know the struggles and unfortunately it’s something that the team just needs to battle through.

A disappointing loss for sure. I would’ve liked to see more from the team in general against a top flight opponent that we’re directly competing with for a European slot. I don’t think one can even blame international competition as an excuse because the majority of the team didn’t even play much over the break. Sometimes with such a momentum shifter as Petric’s goal really was to the whole flow of the game it can completely throw a team off.

It was nice to see Kuzmanovic for a little bit; he came in for Khedira 69 minutes in. Tough to really evaluate somebody over 20 minutes of play so I’ll reserve comments until I see a bigger body of work. I thought Träsch played well overall, setting up a few chances early on and also providing the through ball for Pogrebnyak’s goal.

But there’s no rest for the weary. Hamburg deserved the win. Now it’s time to look ahead to the opening of Stuttgart’s CL campaign on Wednesday home v Rangers. Feel free to leave comments on what you thought of the match here. I’ll be posting a CL preview within the next day. Also for your viewing pleasure, here’s an 8 minute comprehensive highlight of the match. Enjoy-