This wasted point could hurt Stuttgart in the final reckoning. Nevertheless, there is no criticism from Pellegrino Matarazzo of his players after the 1:2 in Dortmund. Instead, a temporary promotion for Bundesliga debutant Alexis Tibidi.
Against Bielefeld before the international break, Matarazzo came round the corner with the idea of deploying Borna Sosa on the right wing. He also threw in U-21 defender Matej Maglica (23) as a debutant shortly before the end with the score at 0:1 with his header. In Dortmund, Stuttgart’s head coach surprisingly pulled Alexis Tibidi (18) from the VfB U-19s out of the hat and left Mateo Klimowicz and Wahid Faghir on the bench instead.
According to Matarazzo, the new signing from FC Toulouse, who is not on loan, has done “very, very well in the past two weeks as a training guest with the professionals. Also in the test match against Zurich. He made a positive impression”. Which the 18-year-old repeated in Dortmund. “I am satisfied with his first appearance. It’s a pity that he didn’t score on the two finishes he had.” Once the Frenchman fired over-hastily and aimlessly, the second time he had started from offside. “He has quality,” said Matarazzo, who wants to keep the striker “for sure for the next while” in the pros. At least until injured attackers Sasa Kalajdzic (in January) as well as Silas, Omar Marmoush and Chris Führich can celebrate their imminent comebacks.
The Swabians also expect Konstantinos Mavropanos and Atakan Karazor to be fully fit for Friday against Mainz. The central defender has pain in his hand, which was stepped on by a BVB player. The midfielder was even substituted early after complaining of muscular problems.
