Veh lets the good times roll

Ask Armin Veh who the favourites are for the Bundesliga title and you get a short answer - FC Bayern München. The Bavarian side might have fallen painfully off the pace last season, but they are the centre of attention again as the new campaign gets under way. That suits the VfB Stuttgart coach just fine. Veh's young side were the surprise of last season as they claimed their first title in 15 years, and the underdog role is one he is happy to accept as Stuggart kick off their defence at home to FC Schalke 04 tonight.

Anticipation
It is ironic that Schalke of all clubs were drawn to visit the Gottlieb-Daimer stadium on opening day. Schalke had been in pole position to win a thrilling title race last May, only to slip up against rivals BV Borussia Dortmund in the penultimate round. That opened the door for Stuttgart who beat FC Energie Cottbus on the final day to end a dramatic campaign on top. Stuttgart supporters won't miss the chance to remind their rivals of that tonight. The sense of anticipation is huge.

'Great night'
"We're looking forward to the new season very much, and we hope we've laid the foundations for another successful campaign," Veh told uefa.com. "We can't wait for it to begin. The stadium is sold out, the Bundesliga champions are playing the runners-up, everything is set for a great night of football." Stuttgart claimed the title on the back of a remarkable nine-game winning run, picking up admirers for their attacking football along the way. Only Werder Bremen scored more often. "We will not start with a particular goal," the 46-year-old said. "Of course, we want to give everything in every match, whether it is in the Bundesliga, the German cup or the [UEFA] Champions League. Last but not least we want to give our fans some spectacular football again."

'Strengthened'
To that end Stuttgart have brought in forwards Ewerthon and Ciprian Marica as well as experienced Turkish playmaker Yildiray Bastürk. The loss of Timo Hildebrand to Valencia CF has been compensated by the €2m signing of 1. FC Nürnberg's Raphael Schäfer, who was considered the best goalkeeper in the Bundesliga last season. The newcomers will be needed as Stuttgart plan for a first UEFA Champions League campaign since 2002/03. "The Champions League is a huge challenge, especially for the young players, but we have strengthened both the size and quality of our squad and we're convinced we're well prepared for the task ahead," Veh said. "As with the Bundesliga, though, we have no specific goal for the Champions League. We want to do as well as we can in every game and do so playing attractive football."

Schalke target
Kevin Kuranyi, Philipp Lahm and Aleksandar Hleb all emerged as stars during Stuttgart's last UEFA Champions League campaign and the likes of Mario Gomez, Roberto Hilbert, Cacau and Serdar Tasci will be looking to make their mark in similar style this time round. Stuttgart also have one eye on the future, renovating their training ground and tabling plans to rebuild the Gottlieb-Daimer into a pure footballing stadium. Veh pulled off a major surprise in taking Stuttgart to the top of the table in his first full season in charge, the aim now is to keep them there. "We want to always be at the top of the league, but our attention is not so much on the years to come, but the near future - the first match of the season against Schalke 04 is the centre of attention."

This is an abridged version of a story that appears in this week's edition of the uefa.com Magazine. To read it in full, click here.