Bayer v Stuttgart Cup final has a distinct World Cup flavour
Title holders VfB Stuttgart play Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the Cup final on Saturday which will bring together 11 players from the German World Cup squad. Bayern's Manuel Neuer, Jonathan Tah, Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Leon Goretzka, Jamal Musiala and Lennart Karl will be up against a Stuttgart quartet of Alexander Nübel, Angelo Stiller, Jamie Leweling und Deniz Undav. They will be rivals for the trophy in Berlin before joining forces from Wednesday onwards in the German 26-player squad for the June 11-July 19 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Neuer v Nübel? Or will Urbig play? Recalling the 40-year-old Neuer, who originally retired after 124 caps highlighted by the 2014 World Cup title two years ago was the biggest World Cup nomination talking point.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has made Neuer the number one goalkeeper for the tournament, with Oliver Baumann the first back-up and Nübel the number three keeper. But Neuer has been nursing calf problems, including this week when he has not trained. As a result, Jonas Urbig could be between the Bayern posts on Saturday.
That would however also be a World Cup duel of sorts because Urbig will travel to the US as a training keeper. And should Neuer (or Baumann or Nübel) get injured during the tournament, Urbig would already be with the squad as a potential third keeper. Will a not nominated trio prove their point?
While Nagelsmann picked seven Munich players and four from Stuttgart, he also snubbed a trio from the two clubs: Stuttgart duo Chris Führich and Maximilian Mittelstädt and Munich talent Tom Bischof. Führich and Mittelstädt have performed strongly in the past weeks and Nagelsmann named leaving them out "exceptional hardship cases. " The two may now want to prove on the big cup stage that they should have been picked.