“We want to create a surprise”

The gameplan is a simple one, and it sounds like it might just work… “All we need to do is play the way we do when we’re at our absolute best in the Bundesliga. And if we do that, we’ll have a chance, even against Real Madrid. Why not?” said Deniz Undav with a smile. The German international was speaking ahead of an historic moment, with VfB Stuttgart back in the UEFA Champions League after 14 years. It is the greatest of European stages, with the strongest teams and the best players. And to kick things off on Tuesday evening (17 September, 21:00 CEST), they find themselves up against the defending champions, Real Madrid.

Courage and absolute focus

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“We have nothing but respect for Real Madrid – they have so much experience at this level,” said Sebastian Hoeneß, before tempering his humility with a slightly bolder statement when asked about his team’s approach. “We want to create a surprise, and to do that, we need to be brave and go out there with courage and absolute focus. If we can do that, we’ll improve our chances of taking something out of the game.” VfB certainly look as if they might be capable of causing an upset on current form, and their 3-1 win on Saturday away to Borussia Mönchengladbach will help to make them a little less nervous when they walk out onto the pitch at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

“It’s amazing that we’re getting to measure up against teams of this quality, but it’s something that our performances have earned us,” Hoeneß continued. Real are a flexible, instinctive team when they are in possession of the ball, which often comes when they are in the right place to make the most of it. “They are so good as a team at turning defence into attack, so we can’t afford to sit back and relax when we’re on the ball,” said the VfB head coach, who is looking forward to his own UEFA Champions League debut.

Make fans and whole region proud

Undav meanwhile is looking to make sure that he and his team-mates “keep putting Real under pressure”, and the striker is convinced that VfB will be able to make the most of the possession that they have. “We can’t wait for this match – we’ve all dreamt of nights like this, and now here we are ready to go. We want to make our fans and the whole region proud.”

Leonidas Stergiou and Ameen Al Dakhil are still unavailable for selection, but they are the only two players missing from the squad, which trained ahead of the match for the final time on Monday evening.