VfL Wolfsburg, coming off their first-ever Bundesliga title, open the 2009 season with a Friday evening game at home against VfB Stuttgart at Volkswagen-Arena.
Armin Veh takes over the club after Felix Magath departed in the offseason for Schalke, and expectations have never been higher for the club after a maiden league triumph and the prospect of Champions League football. Wolfsburg made just a handful of changes in the offseason, bringing in Danish midfielder Thomas Kahlenberg, Algeria's Karim Ziani from Marseille, and former Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins.
Stuttgart, third-place finishers a year ago, will have higher goals this season especially after the additions of Pavel Pogrebnyak and Alexander Hleb, both of whom will feature on Friday. Manager Markus Babbel will expect nothing less than the Meisterschale in 2009/10, despite the loss of striker Mario Gomez to Bayern Munich.
Alexander Stolz (back), Khalid Boulahrouz (shoulder), and Roberto Hilbert are the three absences for Stuttgart, who are otherwise at full strength. It is yet to be seen if Pogrebnyak will play from the start, or come in off the bench.
Wolfsburg will be without new signing Thomas Kahlenberg due to injury, and Japanese midfielder Makoto Hasebe will also be absent for an otherwise full Wolfsburg squad that will feature striker Edin Dzeko and Grafite once again up front. Wolfsburg face matches against Hamburg, Bayern Munich, and Bayer Leverkusen in the opening five rounds, so their title defense will not come easily.
The bookmakers favor a victory at home for Wolfsburg as they begin their title defense, but Stuttgart could very well pull a result from this match if they get quality play up front.
REVIEW:
Wolfsburg began their Bundesliga title defense in style on Friday evening with a 2-0 home victory over 2006/07 champions Stuttgart.
After a first half that saw both sides squander several chances, Wolfsburg's constant build-up and pressure finally paid off on 71 minutes when influential Bosnian midfielder Zvejzdan Misimovic hit a wonderful left-footed shot that curled past Jens Lehmann.
Eight minutes from time, Brazilian striker Grafite, who led the Bundesliga with a remarkable 28 goals last season, opened his account with a low right-footed shot that Lehmann had no chance to stop.
Stuttgart's woes got worse near the end when defender Christian Träsch went off with a wrist injury, and Wolfsburg completed the victory to get their season off to a fine start.