Having played two competitive games in the 2017/2018 campaign, this coming Saturday, VfB finally take to the turf on their home ground. At 15:30 CET, the side in the shirts with the infamous red hoop play host to 1. FSV Mainz 05 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. The growing anticipation ahead of the first home game of the season is already palpable on the VfB club grounds, with the final public pre-match training session drawing some 400 White-Red fateful.
The goal for this Saturday afternoon against the side from the Rhine-Hessen region is clear: Simon Terodde & Co. want to secure their first three points of the still fledgling Bundesliga season – and they will have the backing of their ever-fateful supporters in doing so. By Thursday, some 51,300 tickets had already changed hands for VfB’s home premiere, with the bulk of those packed in around the ground naturally getting behind the Wasenelf. 800 travelling fans are expected to make the trip from Mainz.
The plan for Hannes Wolf’s men this Saturday will naturally be to enthuse their fans over the ninety minutes and, ideally, have three points in the bag to celebrate with them at the final whistle – as was so often the case last season, when the Cannstatt Boys and their fans formed a very successful unit. By the end of the previous campaign, VfB had notched up 13 home wins, with 55 goals scored in front of the home supporters at the Mercedes-Benz Arena – 40 of which for VfB! The Cannstatt Boy’s home strength was naturally the basis for the club’s immediate return to the Bundesliga. The 2017/2018 season is VfB’s 52nd in Germany’s top-flight. In a total of 865 home matches to date, the Wasenelf have won 495. Only Hamburger SV (54 Bundesliga seasons, 498 home wins), SV Werder Bremen (53 Bundesliga seasons, 514 home wins) and FC Bayern Munich (52 Bundesliga seasons, 657 home wins) have managed to prove more successful on their home turf than the Cannstatt Boys.
The inter-play between the fans in the stands and the players on the pitch will again be vital this season, if VfB are to achieve their set goal of securing top-flight survival.
