A new moment in German football. Bayern Munich is not in the running for the Supercup trophy. The Bavarians didn’t impress last season, finishing without any silverware, so this Saturday at 9.30 PM EAT, we will see double winners Bayer Leverkusen and runners-up Stuttgart battling it out for the cup.For both teams, this is their second appearance in the German Supercup. Stuttgart won this trophy in 1992 with a victory over Hannover, while Leverkusen lost to Werder Bremen in 1993.The Pharmacists now have the chance to unite all domestic trophies if they defeat the Swabians. This is something we’ve become accustomed to seeing only from Bayern in recent years.It will be interesting to see what Bayer can offer the world this year. Last season, they suffered only one overall defeat, in the Europa League final against Atalanta. Had they overcome that hurdle, everything would have been perfect. Many expected that after this, coach Xabi Alonso would move on to Bayern or Real Madrid, but he kept his earlier promise to stay and coach Leverkusen for another year.🚨 MATCHDAY! 🚨Supercup Time! 🏆🆚 @VfB_int⏰ 8:30pm (CEST)🏟️ BayArena #B04VfB | #Supercup2024 pic.twitter.com/HDXJ9SzD3F— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) August 17, 2024 The team hasn’t undergone significant changes over the summer. Only Serdar Azmoun (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) and Iker Bravo (Udinese) have left, but they didn’t play important roles. In the meantime, the club invested €53 million in signings, bringing in Martin Terrier and Jeanuël Belocian (both from Rennes), as well as Aleix Garcia (Girona).”Last season was unique. We want to use that positive energy for what lies ahead, but we’re starting from scratch. We have enough good players in the team to be ready for the season’s start. We are fully focused. We respect Stuttgart; they fully deserve to be here. I like the style of play that Sebastian Hoeness insists on,” Alonso said.Stuttgart’s coach, meanwhile, has repeatedly stated that none of his players should treat this match as a friendly.”This is not a friendly game but an official competitive match. Moreover, it’s for a trophy. We know what’s ahead of us. We’re in the Supercup thanks to an incredible season behind us. We saw the UEFA Supercup between Real Madrid and Atalanta, which was also for a trophy. Now we’re playing the German version of that, so we’re approaching the game very seriously to improve our chances of lifting the cup,” Hoeness said.Time to test your knowledge on the Supercup 😜👇#VfB | #Supercup2024 pic.twitter.com/vfrild70wv— VfB Stuttgart_int (@VfB_int) August 16, 2024 Unlike Alonso, Hoeness has almost an entirely new squad compared to last season. Captain Waldemar Anton, along with Serhou Guirassy, has moved to Borussia Dortmund, Hiroki Ito has gone to Bayern, and the team has also lost Lilian Egloff, Genki Haraguchi, Gil Dias, Matej Maglica, Roberto Massimo, and Florian Schock. The club has permanently signed Deniz Undav from Brighton, who played for Stuttgart on loan last season, and also brought in Ermedin Demirović (Augsburg), Jamie Leweling (Union Berlin), Jeff Chabot (Cologne), Anthony Rouault (Toulouse), Ramon Hendriks (Feyenoord), Fran Krätzig (Bayern), Fabian Rieder (Rennes), Nick Woltemade (Werder Bremen), Yannick Keitel (Freiburg), Stefan Drljača (Dynamo Dresden) and center-back Leonidas Stergiou (St. Gallen).ALL GERMAN SUPERCUP WINNERS10 – Bayern Munich6 – Borussia Dortmund3 – Werder Bremen1 – Kaiserslautern, Schalke, RB Leipzig, Stuttgart, Wolfsburg🗣️ @XabiAlonso ahead of tomorrow’s #Supercup2024 against VfB Stuttgart. 👇 pic.twitter.com/Wbjs076cFe— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) August 16, 2024 Stuttgart’s new captain and the man who will have the honor of lifting the trophy if the Swabians triumph today is defensive midfielder Atakan Karazor, who is entering his sixth season with the club.Last season, Leverkusen defeated Stuttgart 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the DFB-Pokal, while their two league encounters both ended in draws (1-1 and 2-2). One of Bayer’s best players, Florian Wirtz, is expecting another exciting duel in Leverkusen.”Last season, we met three times: once in the cup and twice in the league. All three were really good football matches, very balanced. It wasn’t easy to win,” Wirtz admitted.#Supercup2024 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 🏆💥Come on boys from Cannstatt! ⚪️🔴 ✊#VfB | #B04VfB pic.twitter.com/1FIs0JLEQ2— VfB Stuttgart_int (@VfB_int) August 17, 2024 GERMAN SUPERCUPSaturday21:30: (1.73) Leverkusen (3.90) Stuttgart (4.80)***odds are subject to change***
