Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - VfB Stuttgart starts on Monday with the new coach Bruno Labbadia in the preparation for the rest of the season in the Bundesliga. Labbadia expects the team at 3 p.m. for training on the pitch for the first time. Midfielder Chris Führich will be absent. The 24-year-old still has to take a break after an operation on his collarbone. In addition to the offensive player, Labbadia has to do without World Cup participants Borna Sosa, captain Wataru Endo and Hiroki Ito for the time being. Sosa and the Croatian national team meet Argentina in the semi-finals in Qatar on Tuesday. Endo and Ito are still on vacation after Japan lost out to the Croatians in the round of 16.
The first Bundesliga game under Labbadia is on January 21 at home in the league against 1. FSV Mainz 05. The former national striker worked for VfB from December 2010 to August 2013. Stuttgart signed the 56-year-old as the successor to Pellegrino Matarazzo, who was released in October.
