“Looking forward to a special match”

Stuttgart host 1. FC Heidenheim on Easter Sunday (kick-off 17:30 CEST) at a sold-out MHPArena. Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß is still without injured trio Anthony Rouault, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Niko Nartey for the Matchday 27 encounter. Fabian Bredlow is also absent with illness, while Enzo Millot and Atakan Karazor are not fully fit but the pair do have a chance of being ready for Sunday, Hoeneß confirmed. Hiroki Ito has returned from international duty with a minor back problem and was restricted to running for his first training session yesterday. “We assume he’ll be fine for Sunday,” said the VfB boss.

Opponents in focus

Hoeneß praised Heidenheim’s “consistency and stability” in his press conference. Frank Schmidt’s side may have claimed most of their wins on home turf this season, but the team currently 11th in the table have also picked up points away to good teams lately. “It’s awkward playing against Heidenheim,” said Hoeneß, who spoke highly of his opposite number’s work. “Admittedly they haven’t won for five matches, but they’ve had draws against good teams recently [2-2 against Union Berlin, 1-1 against Gladbach]. Frank has formed a team that are stable, and it shows. They work extremely hard and put in an incredible amount of effort off the ball. They also possess a special weapon with set pieces. For us it’s a case of not giving away too many set pieces, keeping Heidenheim away from our goal and cutting out their transitional play. We want to generate pressure ourselves in order to break down the opponents’ defensive unit.”

Sold-out MHPArena

For the 1,000th Bundesliga game at the MHPArena, 60,000 spectators are expected on Easter Sunday for the first time since the reconstruction. “I associate a lot with this stadium,” described Hoeneß. “My father worked as general manager here, when I was still very young. It was the best thing for me to sit in the stadium as a fan and cheer on. One thousand games – no other stadium in the Bundesliga can claim that itself. I’m looking forward to a special match, which we also want to give a nice story on the pitch.”