week 32 - match preview

Encounter with VfB Stuttgart revives memories of 2007

“Stuttgart are currently on a run and will be coming here full of confidence,” predicts head coach Mike Büskens. He’s expecting a difficult game in the Veltins Arena on Wednesday, but adds: “It’s an added spur for us to measure ourselves against teams like this.”

Even though the situation in terms of qualifying for Europe has not exactly improved following the game away at Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Royal Blues are still aiming to give a good account of themselves. “If we show the attitude and determination that the team demonstrated in Gladbach, then we’ll succeed in doing that,” said Büskens confidently.

“Our situation is not what we hoped it would be, nor what it could have been based on how the game went in Mönchengladbach,” explained the coach. As long as anything was still mathematically possible, however, the team would do everything in its power to achieve it, Büskens added. “I’m no mathematician, but I understand the position well enough to know that it’s not going to be easy,” he conceded.

There is no need, he felt, for any special motivation, such as harking back to the finale to the 2007 season, when Stuttgart pipped Schalke to the title with a late run. “As a professional you want to win and you spur yourself on,” he stressed. “However, the memory of 2007 may indeed play a secondary role for one or two of the players who were directly involved.”

Asked about Stuttgart’s strengths, the 41 year-old warns above all about dead ball situations and their attacking department, which, he says, needs to be kept in check: “I’m thinking there not just of Mario Gomez, but also of Martin Lanig, Roberto Hilbert, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Cacau, who are all good going forward.”