“An enormously attractive assignment”

VfB head coach Sebastian Hoeneß will be without injured trio Dan-Axel Zagadou, Nikolas Nartey and Lilian Egloff in Leverkusen on Tuesday evening, but Anthony Rouault is available despite breaking his nose against Freiburg at the weekend. Wooyeong Jeong (South Korea) and Silas (DR Congo) have reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cup and Africa Cup of Nations respectively, while Serhou Guirassy and Hiroki Ito have returned to Stuttgart from international duty. Hoeneß said Japanese defender Ito made “a good impression” in training on Monday afternoon and is “an option for Tuesday”, but there is still a question mark over Guirassy. “We’ll examine him and won’t take any risks,” confirmed the VfB boss.

Stuttgart and Leverkusen last met in the Bundesliga back in December, and while Hoeneß feels the teams’ style of play remains similar, both sides have made changes since the 1-1 draw. The 41-year-old was full of praise for Bayer’s recent form, telling the assembled media: “Leverkusen are top of the Bundesliga table with an unbelievable points tally [52] and have yet to lose a game, but we’ve also claimed satisfactory results against two strong teams recently.”

VfB made the semi-finals of the DFB Cup last season but missed out on a place in the final after losing to Eintracht Frankfurt. “This is an enormously attractive assignment – as is the prize on offer,” added Hoeneß. “Furthermore, every player and coach dreams of one day reaching the final in Berlin. It’s very special.”

Despite the short turnaround, Hoeneß will not make any “fundamental changes” as far as VfB’s preparations are concerned. “We’ve obviously discussed the prospect of a penalty shoot-out and extra time, but everything else will stay the same,” he said, adding that he can feel the excitement brewing in the VfB camp. “It’s a huge game with special significance. If you manage to win a game like this, your chances of reaching the final are probably greater than ever – but we can’t let ourselves get carried away. We have to be fully focused tomorrow. We’re really excited – now we have to see what happens tomorrow evening.”