Star winger Franck Ribery could make his first Bayern
Munich appearance of the season against Stuttgart on Saturday.
Ribery has not played a competitive match for Bayern
since their DFB-Pokal win in May, but has recovered from a knee problem.
The 31-year-old missed the World Cup for France with a
back injury and promptly retired from international football following the
tournament.
His club career is set to go on, though, and Ribery is
looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.
"I feel good and I'm fit for Saturday," Ribery
told Bayern's official website.
"Now I need to get into a rhythm."
Bayern sit fifth in the embryonic Bundesliga table after
they followed a lucky 2-1 win over Wolfsburg with a 1-1 draw at Schalke prior
to the international break.
The defending champions have yet to keep a clean sheet in
a competitive match in 2014-15 and coach Pep Guardiola will hope that changes
at the Allianz Arena this weekend.
Most of Bayern's players have been busy during the recent
international break, but club captain Philipp Lahm enjoyed some rare time off
after ending his Germany career following their successful World Cup campaign.
Bayern's treatment room saw plenty of action during the
Bundesliga hiatus, though, as the likes of Arjen Robben (ankle), Xabi Alonso
(foot), Mehdi Benatia (sprain) and Pepe Reina (pelvic strain) all worked on
their fitness.
The quartet are all expected to be fit, but new Germany
captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, fellow midfielder Thiago (both knee) and
defender Rafinha (ankle) remain on the sidelines.
Stuttgart – Bundesliga champions in 2007 – have recorded
just one top-half finish in their last four seasons.
A 15th-place finish last term saw them just one spot
above Hamburg, who had to enter a relegation play-off to ensure their survival.
A promising 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach in their
first match of the season was followed by a 2-0 home defeat to newly promoted
Cologne.
Coach Armin Veh is hopeful that new signing Filip Kostic
will quickly find his feet after joining from Groningen last month.
The striker – who cost a reported €6million – is yet to
score in any of his three club appearances this season.
Bayern have won their last eight Bundesliga matches
against Stuttgart, scoring 22 goals in the process.
Culled from Soccerway
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