“Playing in Dortmund is special”

Sebastian Hoeneß will be without skipper Waldemar Anton when VfB Stuttgart visit Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 28 (kick-off 18:30 CEST on Saturday 6 April). The centre-back picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in last weekend’s game against 1. FC Heidenheim, while Pascal Stenzel suffered a broken hand in Sunday’s thrilling 3-3 draw. “He’s already trained with a splint,” Hoeneß said of the full-back. “We’re confident he’ll be able to play.”

Goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow has returned to training after missing the Heidenheim game through illness, while Silas and Roberto Massimo have not been ruled out of the trip to Dortmund despite falling ill this week. Nikolas Nartey, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Anthony Rouault will miss the game through injury, however.

A special fixture

This is the teams’ third meeting of the season, with VfB winning the corresponding league fixture 2-1 on home soil before triumphing 2-1 in the last 16 of the DFB Cup three-and-a-half weeks later. “We know this is probably the most difficult fixture [in the league] at the moment, against a side in very good form,” Hoeneß said. “Playing in Dortmund is special.”

Twelve months in charge

Wednesday marked the first anniversary of Hoeneß’s appointment as VfB head coach. “It’s been a very special year,” the 41-year-old continued. “It was a very easy decision at the time – largely because of the potential I saw in the squad. I was proven right, as you can tell, but we didn’t expect to be in third place after 27 games. We’ve gone about our work together in a calm and intensive way. We’ve made good decisions, and now we want to bring this special season to a successful conclusion.”