Babbel's high hopes at Stuttgart

Assistant coach Markus Babbel is hoping his old side, Liverpool FC, will be waiting for him if VfB Stuttgart fulfil their aim of "at the very least" qualifying from the UEFA Champions League group stage.

High expectations
Having helped his side win their first title in 15 years last season, the former FC Bayern München and Germany defender hung up his boots and moved straight on to the Stuttgart coaching staff. The 35-year-old is sure his side can compete in the UEFA Champions League, telling uefa.com: "European football is a bit different from the Bundesliga but I think Stuttgart can play at the highest level and if the players perform to their best we can beat any team on our day. At the very least we should be aiming to qualify from this group."

Happy memories
A 2-1 defeat at Rangers FC on Matchday 1 saw Babbel have a chance meeting with former Liverpool team-mate and captain, Gary McAllister. Although Babbel's time at Anfield was curtailed by the debilitating Guillain-Barré syndrome, nothing will ever take away the memories of 2001 when Gérard Houllier's side won five cups, including the UEFA Cup, with Babbel scoring the first goal in an epic 5-4 extra-time victory over Deportivo Alavés. "It was the best time in my life," Babbel said. "I played for one of the biggest clubs in Europe alongside players like Gary, who's a legend for me because he's such a great character and leader. We won five trophies together. That was a fantastic time. The only sadness for me was that I became ill after that and never came back as before. I was a little unlucky but this one season will always be in my head."

Anfield dream
It is clear that for Babbel all roads lead back to Anfield and should Stuttgart progress to the knockout stages there are no prizes for guessing who his preferred opponent might be. Indeed, he is already looking to the day when he might return to the club in a managerial capacity. "I would like to manage a club in Britain one day," admitted Babbel. "I love the British style of football and especially the passion of the fans at big clubs like Liverpool. Of course, it would be a dream to go back to Anfield as manager, but there's a lot of hard work to be done before that can happen."

This is an abridged version of a story that appears in this week's edition of the uefa.com Magazine. To read it in full, click here.