All square in Sandhausen

The game in Sandhausen was the fourth friendly clash for VfB Stuttgart in their preparations for the 2018/2019 Bundesliga season. Following clashes against Reutlingen (4-0), Illertissen (3-3) and Großaspach (3-1), the side in the shirts with the infamous hoop took on second-flight opposition, who begin their league activities in ten days. At the ‘Stadion am Hartwald‘, VfB were without Holger Badstuber (individual training programme) and Christian Gentner (blow to the knee). Having recovered from his knee injury, Andreas Beck celebrated his comeback in the second-half.

In balmy summer temperatures, the hosts, who are decidedly further along in their pre-season preparations than VfB, made the brighter start and ultimately took the lead in the 37^th minute through Jesper Verlaat. In the second period, Stuttgart then dug out an equaliser: From a Maffeo corner delivery, Chadrac Akolo fed Nicolás Gonzalez, who impressively levelled the scores with a perfectly executed overhead-kick (57’). It was to prove the final goal in an intensely contested match.

Tayfun Korkut:

"We began with a young team today and we wanted to introduce every player during the course of the game, as we had the opportunity to do so. During the current phase, there are always alterations made to the starting eleven, which is as yet not settled, but that’s totally normal. In the end, the match finished in a draw. We got through it and now the work continues."