UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEASON 2009/10 MATCH PRESS KIT VfB Stuttgart FC Unirea Urziceni VfB Arena, Stuttgart Wednesday 9 December 2009 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) Group G - Matchday 6 Contents Match background.........................................................................................2 Match facts....................................................................................................3 Squad list.......................................................................................................5 Head coach....................................................................................................7 Match officials................................................................................................8 Fixtures and results.......................................................................................9 Match-by-match lineups...............................................................................12 Competition facts..........................................................................................14 Team facts....................................................................................................15 Legend.........................................................................................................17 This press kit includes information relating to this UEFA Champions League match. For more detailed factual information, and in-depth competition statistics, please refer to the matchweek press kit, which can be downloaded at: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/presskits/index.html VfB Stuttgart - FC Unirea Urziceni Wednesday 9 December 2009 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT VfB Arena, Stuttgart Match background Previous meetings UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 29/09/09 GS FC Unirea Urziceni - VfB Stuttgart 1-1 Bucharest Varga 48; Tasci 5 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA VfB Stuttgart 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 FC Unirea Urziceni 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 VfB Stuttgart - record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Champions League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 26/08/09 P-O VfB Stuttgart - FC Timişoara 0-0 Stuttgart agg: 2-0 18/08/09 P-O FC Timişoara - VfB Stuttgart 0-2 Timisoara Gebhart 28(p), Hleb 30 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 14/12/05 GS VfB Stuttgart - FC Rapid Bucureşti 2-1 Stuttgart Gómez 20, 37; Burdujan 80 FC Unirea Urziceni - record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 02/10/08 R1 FC Unirea Urziceni - Hamburger SV 0-2 Urziceni Petrić 27, 51 agg: 0-2 18/09/08 R1 Hamburger SV - FC Unirea Urziceni 0-0 Hamburg Record versus clubs from opponents' country Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA VfB Stuttgart 2 1 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 2 0 5 2 FC Unirea Urziceni 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 1 3 Second place in Group G will be on the line when FC Unirea Urziceni and VfB Stuttgart meet in Germany on Matchday 6, with the Romanian champions enjoying a two-point cushion over their final opponents. • Both teams recorded victories on Matchday 5, Unirea overcoming section leaders Sevilla FC 1-0 in Bucharest while Stuttgart ran out 2-0 winners at Rangers FC, who are therefore certain to finish in fourth place. • Unirea have eight points, two fewer than Sevilla but two more than Stuttgart, who must consequently beat the Romanian side to stay in the competition. A point will do for Unirea and three would take them into the last 16 as group winners should Sevilla lose to Rangers in Spain. • After one win in their last 13 games in all competitions, Stuttgart parted company with coach Markus Babbel on Sunday, Christian Gross taking over. Babbel's assistants Rainer Widmayer and Alexander Zorniger have also left the club. Previous meeting • Stuttgart took an early lead in the reverse fixture at the Steaua Stadium on 29 September thanks to Serdar Tasci's fifth-minute strike. Unirea had failed to score in any of their previous games in UEFA club competition but finally got off the mark at the fourth attempt three minutes into the second half through Dacian Varga. Match background • Stuttgart qualified for their third group-stage campaign after coming through a play-off test against another Romanian side, FC Timişoara. It finished goalless at the VfB Arena after Markus Babbel's team had won 2-0 away. Last updated 08/12/09 20:45:29CET Match background 2 VfB Stuttgart - FC Unirea Urziceni Wednesday 9 December 2009 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT VfB Arena, Stuttgart • In their only other fixture against Romanian opponents, Stuttgart beat FC Rapid Bucureşti 2-1 at home in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. • As for Unirea, their only previous away meeting with a German outfit produced a 0-0 draw at Hamburger SV in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round, their debut in UEFA competition. They bowed out of the competition after losing the second leg 2-0 at home. • Undone 3-1 by Sevilla on Matchday 3, Stuttgart have lost four and drawn one of their last six UEFA Champions League home games since a 3-2 win against Rangers on 27 November 2007. Team ties • Stuttgart's Romanian striker Ciprian Marica will come up against international team-mates Vasile Maftei and Iulian Apostol. • In last season's UEFA Cup first round, a Rapid Bucureşti team featuring Maftei in their ranks lost to VfL Wolfsburg. The defender scored in the home leg, which ended 1-1 after the current Bundesliga champions had won 1-0 in Germany. • Maftei was also in the Rapid team that succumbed 2-1 at Stuttgart in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage. • Unirea coach Dan Petrescu was in the Chelsea side that beat Stuttgart 1-0 to win the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Stockholm. • Petrescu scored Chelsea's third goal in a 6-1 league win at a Tottenham Hotspur FC team managed by Gross on 6 December 1997 and also featured in a 2-0 home Chelsea victory the following April. • Apostol played for Romania in their 5-0 defeat by Serbia in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in Belgrade on 10 October this year. Stuttgart's Zdravko Kuzmanović appeared as a substitute in the 64th minute and scored Serbia's third goal 13 minutes later. Match facts Stuttgart UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • None Latest domestic information • Saturday 5 December: VfB Stuttgart 1-1 VfL Bochum 1848 (Tasci 63; Fuchs 89) Lehmann; Träsch, Tasci, Delpierre, Magnin; Kuzmanović (Élson 27), Hitzlsperger (Celozzi 39), Rudy, Hleb; Schieber (Marica 64), Cacau. • A late Christian Fuchs strike denied Stuttgart a much-needed three points, leaving them with just one win in 13 outings in all competitions and ultimately spelling the end of Markus Babbel's reign. Bochum's equaliser came eight minutes after they had been reduced to ten men following Diego Klimowicz's dismissal. • The club confirmed Babbel's departure on Sunday, also unveiling new coach Christian Gross. The Swiss, who oversaw his first training session the same evening, said: "It's an honourable but very difficult task. It's all about saving what's left to be saved. Firstly I want to win on Wednesday. I want to get everything possible from the players so as we can satisfy the fans again. I always demand passion from my players." • Stuttgart have not won at home in ten attempts, losing four and drawing six since beating SC Freiburg 4-2 in their first outing of the season at the VfB Arena. • Stuttgart were 13 home games unbeaten in the league before a 2-0 loss to 1. FC Köln on 19 September. • Die Roten suffered their heaviest defeat of the season on 29 November, going down 4-0 at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. They twice lost by four-goal margins last season – against FC Bayern München and Werder Bremen – en route to finishing third in the Bundesliga. • Stuttgart have registered just seven goals in their last 12 games in all competitions and have failed to score in eight of their 15 Bundesliga fixtures this season. Last updated 08/12/09 20:45:29CET Match facts 3 VfB Stuttgart - FC Unirea Urziceni Wednesday 9 December 2009 - 20.45CET (20.45 local time) MATCH PRESS KIT VfB Arena, Stuttgart • VfB had lost five in a row before a goalless draw against Bayern on 31 October. It equalled their worst run since losing six on the trot in 1974/75, when they were relegated from the Bundesliga for the first and so far only time. • The Matchday 5 win at Rangers was Stuttgart's first victory in eleven games. Injury news • Ricardo Osorio – out 31 October to 24 November (thigh) • Serdar Tasci – out 5-29 November (foot) • Martin Lanig – out since 15 August (cruciate ligament) • Sami Khedira – out since 23 October (foot) • Artur Boka − out since 2 December (shoulder) • Jan Šimák − out since 3 December (flu) • Babbel had restored Thomas Hitzlsperger and, following suspension, Zdravko Kuzmanović to the starting XI against Bochum but neither made it to half-time after picking up thigh injuries. Both are expected to miss the Unirea game, with Hitzlsperger unlikely to play again this year. • Cacau did last the distance against Bochum, but ended the match complaining of a groin pain. • Boka damaged his shoulder in training, and Jan Šimák also missed out against Bochum because of flu. Unirea UEFA milestones • None UEFA Champions League statistics • Unirea have won 13 corners in the group stage, the lowest total in the competition. • Vasile Maftei serves a one-match suspension again Stuttgart. George Galamaz and Ricardo Vilana are a booking away from a ban. Latest domestic information • Friday 4 December: FC Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt 2-3 FC Unirea Urziceni (Ibrahim 30, Fabbron 36; Semedo 31, Onofraş 55, Brandán 86pen) Arlauskis; Maftei, Galamaz, Bruno Fernandes, Brandán; Semedo, Pădureţu, Ricardo Vilana (Paraschiv 88), Varga (Frunză 46); Onofraş, Bilasco (Rusescu 70).