“It’s an important game”

Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß emphasised the importance of the fixture at the start of his pre-match press conference: “It’s an important game. With a good performance, we want to claw back the points that we’ve dropped previously. That can have a positive effect on the coming weeks.”

VfB Stuttgart began their preparations for the home game against Holstein Kiel with clear heads and renewed energy following the 1-0 win away to Juventus. The home sections at the MHP Arena are once again sold out for Saturday’s encounter (kick-off 15:30 CEST), with the team counting on the fans’ incredible backing.

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Mini milestone for Hoeneß

“We’ll need the right mix of structure and freshness,” said Hoeneß when asked how he was approaching the game, before highlighting the need to rotate his squad during this busy period: “We’ll need a team out on the pitch that’s capable of playing to their absolute best. That increases the probability of us going on to win the match.”

It will be a landmark occasion for Hoeneß, who takes charge of his 50^th Bundesliga match with VfB. The coach is keen to extend the team’s impressive 18-game unbeaten run at home in all competitions, and announced his plans to bring some fresh legs into the side: “We’ll see players tomorrow who didn’t start in Turin. It’s important for this game as well to have fresh impetus. We want to make the game a success.”

Führich back, Stiller with a cast

Chris Führich will return to the squad following his adductor injury, but Dan-Axel Zagadou, Leonidas Stergiou, Justin Diehl and Luca Raimund are all still out of action. Angelo Stiller (broken finger) will play with a cast.”