Homecoming: Stuttgart youngster Leo Sauer returns to Bratislava
Bratislava-born Leo Sauer faces his boyhood club Slovan with Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday. Coach Hoeness is unfazed by a poor pitch, and Chabot is fit.
Photo: Arne Müseler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · VfB Stuttgart 1893 · youtube.com
Stuttgart's Champions League game at Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday (9 p.m. local time, DAZN in Germany) is a homecoming for Leo Sauer. The 20-year-old played in Slovan's youth teams until 2018 and joined Stuttgart from Feyenoord in the summer for 12.5 million euros plus add-ons. The game will be "something very special, an experience," Sauer said. "I'm excited."
After a lengthy muscle injury, the forward has made only five brief appearances. Coach Sebastian Hoeness would not say whether Sauer will start but called him "a highly interesting, highly talented young player." Defensive leader Jeff Chabot, who came off with a muscle problem at Paderborn, is available after tests showed no serious injury.
The pitch at the National Stadium is reported to be in poor condition. "Of course you always want the perfect pitch," Hoeness said. "We shouldn't look too much at the conditions." Stuttgart opened with a 3-1 win over Viking, while Slovan lost 6-1 at Paris Saint-Germain.