Roberto Massimo returns to face former club Arminia Bielefeld

He played his first Bundesliga game against Hoffenheim and then dropped out due to a corona infection. Now Roberto Massimo is back – and hot to play against his ex-club Arminia Bielefeld.

For the fast man from the right wing, VfB Stuttgart’s game this weekend against Arminia Bielefeld is a journey into the past. After all, the 21-year-old wing racer once grew up in sport in the East Westphalia region. Massimo, who was out of the last three Bundesliga games due to a corona infection, made his professional debut in the 2017/18 season with the Armines.

I’m always happy to play against them, ”said Massimo before the game against the penultimate in the table, who with five points has only half as many points as VfB. In the summer of 2018, the former VfB manager Michael Reschke hired Massimo, who was born in the Ghanaian capital Accra and grew up in Lippstadt, Westphalia, for a transfer fee of 2.5 million euros. At that time, the fast attacking player was still eligible to play for the U19 juniors – and was immediately loaned out to Arminia to gain more match practice.
Matarazzo with staff concerns

Roberto Massimo has now played 40 competitive games for VfB. He scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Cannstatt team in his last appearance so far for Stuttgart, the 3-1 win over TSG Hoffenheim. Now the striker is fit and back. It is questionable, however, whether the coach Pellegrino Matarazzo will bring him into the starting line-up despite the personnel worries.