“This game is something special”

“For us, the club, the city and the people here, this home game is something special,” said head coach Sebastian Hoeneß at his official pre-match press conference in the build-up to Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League encounter at the Arena Stuttgart against Sparta Praha (kick-off 18:45 CEST).

“We want to take this feeling into the game,” the tactician continued. “The players were really focused in our final training session, but they also had the right amount of playfulness too.”

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Sparta, the Czech Republic’s biggest club, are the country’s record title winners and began their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over Salzburg. “They’re a team that attack directly, are very well organised and can also be aggressive,” Hoeneß added.

VfB captain Atakan Karazor underlined the significance of the team’s first Champions League home game: “It’s something extraordinary for me too, and it’s especially fulfilling for me because I get to lead this fantastic team out as captain. It’s a privilege to fight for victories alongside these boys.”

In terms of personnel, Josha Vagnoman will miss out after suffering a knock to his foot in the 2-2 draw in Wolfsburg. Dan-Axel Zagadou, Leonidas Stergiou and Justin Diehl all remain sidelined.