Our prediction for this Champions League match:
After failing to spoil Real Madrid’s party at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in round 1, Stuttgart will be aiming to record their first win of the process when they welcome Sparta Prague to their MHPArena on Tuesday. Die Schwaben have been scoring goals for fun in Bundesliga of late and they are likely to stick to their attacking style of play against Sparta. Key attacker Deniz Undav is widely expected to return to the starting XI after coming as a substitute in a 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg, while both Justin Diehl and Dan-Axel Zagadou remain in the recovery room. Denmark defender Nikolas Nartey is a major doubt.
Lars Friis’ men, on the other hand, outplayed Salzburg 3-0 in their opener, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry in Baden-Wurttemberg. As Sparta Prague experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 3-2 defeat to Sigma Olomouc, home win should be considered. Both Elias Cobbaut and Imanol Garcia are injured for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Alexander Nubel):
Alexander Nubel is a German goalkeeper who plays for Schalke 04 as a goalkeeper. Nubel started his youth career at TSV Tudorf and he moved to SC Paderborn in the summer of 2005. The 193-cm-tall shoot-stopper, though, did not see any game action with Paderborn at senior level as he joined Schalke 04 in 2015.
After making 24 appearances for the reserve team, Alexander Nubel made his debut with the senior team on May 14, 2016. The German goalkeeper made 18 appearances for die knappen in the 2018/2019 Bundesliga season, keeping five clean sheets in the process. Alexander Nubel has 17 caps for the Germany U21 team as well, but he has yet to earn a call-up for the senior team.
The talented shoot-stopper was born in Paderborn, Germany on September 30, 1996. His preferred foot is right and he has a contract with die Knappen until June 30, 2020.
Highlighted Team (Sparta Prague):
Established in 1893, Sparta Prague is one of Europe’s oldest clubs and the most successful side in Czech Republic, having won no fewer than 36 league titles and 27 Czech Cup trophies. The club play their games at the Generali Arena in Prague and hold a long-lasting rivalry with Slavia Prague.
Sparta Prague enjoyed their Golden Years in the 1960’s, when average attendance was nearly 40,000 and players like Jiri Tichy, Andrej Kvasnak and Vaclav Masek entertained the crowds week in week out. Rudi largely impressed in the maiden Champions League campaign during the 1991/92 season as they finished second in the semi-final group, meaning they were among top 4 European sides at the moment.
Nevertheless, Sparta Prague have enjoyed little to no success on the European stage since, reaching the Champions League knockout stages on just one occasion, with their latest major coup the return of prodigal son Tomas Rosicky from Arsenal.