Matarazzo’s Stuttgart holds Leipzig 1-1 in Bundesliga opener

BERLIN (AP) — American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Stuttgart team denied Leipzig a winning start to the Bundesliga season by fighting back to draw 1-1 on Sunday.

Naouirou Ahamada’s first goal for Stuttgart since joining from Juventus in 2020 earned the home team a point and frustrated the visitors, who were keen to match Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund by winning their opening game.

Leipzig finished fourth last season and the club’s chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff said before kickoff in Stuttgart that Champions League qualification remains the main goal for the season.

The visitors made a good start with Christopher Nkunku opening the scoring in the eighth minute. But Ahamada played a one-two with Saša Kalajdžić before curling his shot inside the right post to equalize in the 31st.

Though Leipzig went on to create more chances, the visitors were fortunate that Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos’ effort came back off the post before the break.

Promoted Schalke played at Cologne later Sunday for its first game back in the Bundesliga after a season in the second division.

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