Inside Left.net

VfB Stuttgart – Glasgow Rangers

Champions League, Group G
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Arena
Date: Wednesday 16 Sept
Kick-off: 1945 BST
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio Scotland MW, BBC Radio 5 live and live on Sky Sports Xtra

League leaders and defending Scottish champions Rangers reap the rewards of their labours last season as they kick-off their Champions League campaign tonight against VfB Stuttgart in what is becoming something of a regular fixture. It’s the fourth time these two have met in European football’s most prestigious competition, with 2 wins and 2 defeats each.

27.11.2007     VfB Stuttgart  3-2   Rangers
19.09.2007     Rangers        2-1   VfB Stuttgart
26.11.2003     VfB Stuttgart  1-0   Rangers
16.09.2003     Rangers        2-1   VfB Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart, who finished 3rd in last years competition are currently in 12th place in the Bundesliga. With only 1 win so far – against Freiburg – their season has yet to properly start. There’s a wealth of talent on show for the Germans this evening. Goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is a familiar face to followers of the EPL, as is season-long loan signing Alaksander Hleb. Brazilians Cacau and Elson will also feature.

Rangers have started their league campaign reasonably comfortably, with big wins over Falkirk and Hamilton, though they had to work hard for their 2-1 win at Tynecastle against Hearts and where lucky to come away with a point at Motherwell last Saturday.

* As Rangers begin Euro campaign (BBC)

* we start with a quick guide to Group G. (BBC)

* For Rangers, captain David Weir is their’ biggest injury concern ahead of the game tonight (BBC)

* and defender Madjid Bougherra believes the atmosphere of the Champions League will help motivate Rangers when they face Stuttgart on Wednesday. (BBC)

* Walter Smith reckons this team is better than one that reached Uefa final (Scotsman)

* but the Rangers manager gets a bit miffed at suggestions this may be his last European campaign. (Herald)

* Meanwhile, Stuttgart captain Thomas Hitzlsperger is certain his Bundesliga side can progress from Champions League Group G. (BBC)

* For the history buffs, back in 2007, Rangers opened their Champions League campaign against VfB at Ibrox: Rangers 2-1 VfB Stuttgart (BBC)

* but in the second meeting between the sides, VfB won 3-2. Rangers still had a chance of progressing into the next round if they could win against French champions Lyon. They didn’t (they lost 3-0 at Ibrox in December), but they found more sucess after they dropped into the Uefa Cup: they’d eventually be losing finalists, losing 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburgh in May of 2008, shortly before they’d win the SPL for the first time in four years. (BBC)

Related posts:

1. Hearts exit stage right. Cue: Rangers..
2. Slightly cliché-strewn Rangers preview
3. Scottish Football SPL Preview
4. The SPL Weekend Preview
5. Dinamo Zagreb v Hearts Preview

Tags: Champions League, Champions League Group G, Falkirk, Hamilton, Heart of Midlothian, Hearts, Rangers, SPL, VfB Stuttgart

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Match Programme. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.