To get an idea of Atalanta’s current form you need only look at their most recent result on Sunday, a 3-0 away win at Serie A leaders Napoli. Currently third in their domestic standings, Atalanta combine attacking prowess, defensive robustness and passion, meaning VfB Stuttgart’s next opponents in the UEFA Champions League have all the qualities of an absolute elite-level team.
Indeed, that is exactly what they are. As such, VfB will need to be at their very best when they host Atalanta on Wednesday 6 November at the Arena Stuttgart (kick-off 21:00 CET).
“We came back from Turin with a win and we want to build on that on Wednesday evening,” said Sebastian Hoeneß at his official pre-match press conference, where the head coach also stressed his view that Atalanta are among the best teams in Europe: “They fly under the radar a little bit, which is not at all warranted considering their performances. They’ve been involved in European football for a number of years, they won the Europa League last season and have a lot of quality in their ranks.”
Insider knowledge from El Bilal Touré
Whereas VfB have earned four points from their first three Champions League outings this season, Atalanta are unbeaten with five points. “The boys are fresh and enjoying being on the pitch, which is good,” continued Hoeneß, who said he has got the inside track on the Italian side from former Atalanta attacker El Bilal Touré.
The forward played for them last season and is in fact currently on loan at VfB from the Serie A outfit. “I sounded out El Bilal for some tips,” said the VfB coach. “But fundamentally we know how Atalanta play, and we want to show our own strengths on the pitch.”
Leonidas Stergiou returns
The team will be aided in their efforts to do so given the positive personnel news that Jeff Chabot, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Leonidas Stergiou are all available to play. However, Jamie Leweling, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Luca Raimund are all definitely absent.