“We’ve achieved something extraordinary”

Injured quintet Nikolas Nartey, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Josha Vagnoman, Lilian Egloff and Roberto Massimo remain sidelined for the visit of the German record champions. Maximilian Mittelstädt and Enzo Millot both received their fifth yellow cards of the season at Bayer 04 Leverkusen last weekend and will also miss this one.

Earn Champions League qualification in own right

On Wednesday night, it was confirmed that VfB will play in the Champions League next season following the results of the Champions League semi-finals involving German teams. “We watched the Dortmund and Bayern games and all spoke to each other straight afterwards,” revealed head coach Sebastian Hoeneß. “It’s just unbelievable that we’ll be playing in the Champions League next season. It’s something very special.”

Besides the “pure joy” that the VfB boss felt after the two Champions League ties, Hoeneß is also calling on his players to show the qualities that have got them here. “The mood is relaxed,” he noted. “Today I heard the Champions League anthem from the dressing room after the training session. That’s also completely fine, but there’s no reason to give anything away. We want to qualify in our own right and have a standout home game against Bayern ahead of us.”

This encounter is sandwiched between Munich’s two semi-final legs against Real Madrid, but Hoeneß doesn’t necessarily see that as an advantage. “Bayern have 69 points, are in the Champions League semi-finals and are a top team however they line up,” said the 41-year-old. “We’re not expecting a weakened team that’s easy to play against – on the contrary. Bayern have always compensated for absences well and got their points recently regardless of line-up.”