Schalke 04 vs VfB Stuttgart Bundesliga Sunday, September 10, 6:00 PM Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen Injured: Badstuber, Ginczek, Insua (VfB) Schöpf, Embolo (S04) Referee: Bibiana Steinhaus TV: FuboTV, Fox Soccer 2, 9:00AM PST 12:00PM EST VfBTV after the match Newsflash: Badstuber is injured and will not play. Who could have seen that coming? Fortunately, it's not serious, and he should be back for the next one, barring the next muscle injury coming sooner than expected. I am looking forward to seeing Santiago Ascacíbar for the first time - as a sub, probably. I also assume Beck will jump right into the line up at right back. No telling how this group will play together, or which Schalke will show up. It's always a tough game for us, so I'm hoping for a tie on the road. Maybe Terodde can break out and give us reason to celebrate.
Well, that didn't go the way that I wanted! Schalke 04 - 3:1 - VfB Stuttgart It looks like the defense is, as the English say, "at sixes and sevens." And the offense (speaking to you Terrode) really needs to get going.
Mangala made a rash tackle in the box to give away the quick penalty. Was originally a no call but VAR changed it to a penalty. VfB looked disjointed for the next 10 minutes or so after conceding the early penalty. The last 30 min of the 1st half they played quite well. Which was aided by Schalke dropping too deep and being too conservative. Even though Stuttgart did well to get the equalizer they played too conservative IMO. Possession is definitely valuable but too often when they would force a turnover in Schalke's end of the field the would cycle it all the way back to the CBs thus letting Schalke drop and reset their defense. The team seemed like they came out napping for the first couple minutes of the 2nd half and weren't ready for Scalkes intensity.
I agree that they were very unsettled at the beginning of both halves - probably the pressure of player a better team on the road. Brekalo had a terrible outing. It was find failed clearance that led to the penalty and then a completely disoriented backpass the Schalke, which he followed with an immediate foul, that gave the freekick for the second goal. I was happy to see Akolo get on the scoresheet. He earned it too. Let's put this match behind us. We're not quite at this level yet.