Champions League: Real Madrid – VfB Stuttgart LIVE on TV, Stream & Ticker

VfB Stuttgart is back on the big football stage. 14 years after their last appearance in the Champions League, the Swabians are celebrating their return to the premier class. The first match on Tuesday, September 17th, will see VfB take on defending champions Real Madrid. Kick-off is at 9 p.m. (LIVETICKER) at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Real’s home ground.

At Real, superstar Jude Bellingham returns to the starting line-up after his muscle injury. Before that, the superstar trio of Rodrygo, Vinicius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé were attacking.

Maximilian Mittelstädt will be starting for VfB. New signing Ermedin Demirovic will initially sit on the bench. Alongside Deniz Undav, Chris Führich and Enzo Millot will be attacking. “We have a large selection of very good players in the attack,” said coach Sebastian Hoeneß before kick-off at Amazon Prime Video.

Millot, who has been spared in recent weeks. “A player with exceptional abilities who perhaps even flies a little under the radar. Also Führich, “who now has the chance to show what he can do on stage.” “I’m glad that I have to make these tough decisions, but I have to make them,” explained Hoeneß.

Real: Courtois – Vazquez, Carvajal, Rüdiger, Mendy, Valverde, Tchouameni, Bellingham – Rodrygo, Mbappé, Vinicius Junior

FC Bayern: Nübel – Vagnoman, Rouault, Chabot, Mittelstädt – Karazor, Stiller, Leweling – Undav, Führich, Millot

The Spanish champions from Madrid and the German runners-up from Stuttgart have never faced each other on the pitch before. Nevertheless, Real Madrid is the clear favorite in the match against VfB Stuttgart. It is not for nothing that the royals are the record winners of the Champions League. Real has been a permanent fixture in the top European league for almost 30 years. The Spanish team has made it to the final of the competition 18 times and Real has won the title 15 times.

The record winner of the Champions League got off to a stuttering start in the new season. After five games in La Liga, coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team is only in third place with eleven points. They are already four points behind league leaders FC Barcelona. Last weekend, the Royal team won their away game at Real Sociedad San Sebastian 2-0 thanks to penalty goals from Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Junior.

After the Swabians had just managed to avoid relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga two years in a row, they achieved something historic in the 2023/24 season. VfB had never had 73 points after a season, even if in the end it was “only” enough for the runner-up spot. Coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team will therefore be competing in the Champions League for the first time since 2010.

In the Bundesliga, VfB celebrated its first win of the season on the third matchday with a 3-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach and climbed to tenth place with four points.

The Champions League is starting the new season with a major reform. Instead of group matches, there will be a league – with 36 teams instead of the previous 32. Each team will face eight opponents who were drawn beforehand. Each team will have four home and four away matches.

In the league there are still three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.

The first eight teams in the league qualify for the round of 16. The teams in places ninth to 16 play in knockout round playoffs against the clubs in places 17 to 24 for the remaining eight round of 16 tickets. The teams in places 25 to 36 are out and do not play in the Europa League.

The first matchday of the Champions League will exceptionally be played over three days. Because the Europa League and Conference League are still on hiatus, games will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Two matches will kick off at 6:45 p.m. (in the LIVETICKER), the remaining matches at 9:00 p.m. (in the LIVETICKER).