Stuttgart set on surprising Bayern

With the days beginning to get warmer so the heat is rising in the Bundesliga and, with five matches left, the race for the most-coveted league placings remains wide open.

Decisive matches
This Saturday third-placed VfB Stuttgart welcome defending champions FC Bayern München in the first of several crucial games to be contested over the coming weeks. Stuttgart still have everything to play for, having reached the German Cup final on Wednesday after overcoming VfL Wolfsburg, and being positioned within five points of leaders Werder Bremen, who moved a point clear of FC Schalke 04 on Friday night. Schalke could return to the summit when they play FC Energie Cottbus on Saturday.

Surprise package
Further back, the visit of Bayern is vital in terms of the battle to finish in the top three - those all-important UEFA Champions League berths. Bayern, in fourth, are lagging two points behind Stuttgart and can ill afford defeat against this season's surprise package, whose renaissance has been all the more remarkable given their indifferent start to the campaign. The Swabians were 12th after six matches, with coach Armin Veh, who had succeeded Giovanni Trapattoni the previous February, coming under fire. The VfB board were rumoured to be looking at replacements yet the club directors held their nerve and appear to have been rewarded for their loyalty.

Attractive football
Veh's footballing philosophy must have gone a long way to calming any twitchy fingers in the boardroom. Stuttgart play an attractive, short-passing game and results eventually began to reflect the quality of their performances. Striker Mario Gómez's emergence has played a major part in Stuttgart's revival, 19-year-old defender Serdar Tasci has impressed, and the once disappointing Cacau has also found a new lease of life scoring ten Bundesliga goals. In addition, Mexican signings Ricardo Osorio and Pavel Pardo have proved successful buys.

Bayern challenge
Although the loss to torn knee ligaments of 13-goal Gómez was a huge blow last month, Stuttgart have coped well and are bullish ahead of the arrival of Ottmar Hitzfeld's side. "Bring on Bayern," said Cacau after the cup semi-final. "I believe we will beat them." Veh added: "Reaching the cup final has given us the strength for Bayern at home. It will be our second final in four days." Stuttgart's campaign bears similarities to the 1991/92 season when they last won the title, in dramatic fashion. With Bayern enduring a below-par year the championship seemed destined for either Eintracht Frankfurt or BV Borussia Dortmund, only for Christoph Daum's men, inspired by Matthias Sammer and Guido Buchwald, to take advantage of Eintracht's final-day wobble to steal the crown.

Makaay vow
Bayern, though, have no intention of falling away. Their need is arguably the greater of the two teams given that UEFA Champions League qualification is a minimum requirement - not least financially - for a club of their stature. "On Saturday we can prove we belong among the top three and that's what we'll do," insisted striker Roy Makaay, who has scored five times in nine appearances against Stuttgart. With Bayern lying six points behind Schalke, there are even those eyeing still loftier ambitions. "We have a good side," said Mark van Bommel. "I don't think the season will end the way the table looks now."