All about the next game: Sparta at home in the Champions League

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·1 Oktober 2024

All about the next game: Sparta at home in the Champions League

Wolfsburg is forgotten, tonight we move straight on: For the first time in over 14 years, the Champions League anthem will resound again at Neckarstadion.

It’s worth pausing for a moment at this point. Yes, of course, the refereeing performance in Wolfsburg, a shame about the two points. We could have done more with it, just like against Mainz. But hey: for the second season in a row, our team has been putting in very solid performances so far, scoring a ton of goals, dismantling a Champions League finalist, and standing up to another one. And tonight, we’ll be reminded through song that we are among the best teams in Europe — at least this season. I can’t stress it enough, but we really can’t appreciate our good fortune enough right now. Forgotten is the second Bundesliga, forgotten are the relegation playoffs, and the sporting decline. Currently, we have five German national team players in the squad, our strike duo has each scored four goals in five league games, and tonight we’re playing at the Neckarstadion, as Hoeneß said, “Champions League, damn it!” With everything that occupies us from matchday to matchday, you have to take the time to enjoy this. And even more so on such a historic day, because today, 21 years ago, VfB played a home game in the Champions League for the first time in its club history (I don’t know a club called Leeds United). The 2–1 win on October 1, 2003, against Manchester United remains historic to this day. Last year, we spoke with goalscorer Imre Szabics about it. It would be great if we could experience a similarly legendary evening today and finally pick up our first international points of the season. But first, let’s look at the

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Personnel Situation

which has slightly worsened due to the absence of Joshua Vagnoman, who took a knock on his foot in Wolfsburg. Unfortunately, Daxo Zagadou is also missing, as well as long-term absentees Leo Stergiou and Justin Diehl.

In a

Potential Starting Lineup

Sebastian Hoeneß will have to make some changes:

I could also imagine Stenzel starting on the right, but that would pose a certain risk against Sparta’s fast wingers, as mentioned in the interview with Praha fan Jan. Alternatively, Rouault could move to the right, and Chase could return to the center. For Al-Dakhil, this game might still be too early for a start. Up front, Führich could rotate in and, along with Mittelstädt, could exploit Sparta’s weak wingbacks, just like Leweling on the right. Since we won’t play again until Sunday evening, I expect Undav to start instead of Millot, who could still leave his mark on the game later.

Statistics

We’ve never played against Sparta Prague before, aside from a friendly under Bruno Labbadia, which we lost 0–2. In the 1978/1979 season, VfB was dramatically knocked out in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 by Sparta’s now-merged city rival Dukla Prague: 4–1 in the first leg, 0–4 in the return leg. In 1997/1998, we knocked out Slavia Prague 2–0 and 1–1 on our way to the Cup Winners’ Cup final. After their first home defeat in 18 months against Olomouc on Friday, Sparta is currently second in the table behind their local rival Slavia, against whom they will play the derby on Sunday. A certain Jan Kliment, who plays for Olomouc, didn’t score against Sparta. Five Sparta players have already scored three goals each.

Conclusion

I find it hard to assess Sparta’s strength, but I imagine VfB will have the upper hand if, unlike in Wolfsburg, they can bring their qualities directly to the pitch, driven by a roaring Neckarstadion. After Saturday’s game, we should definitely be wary of quick counterattacks, but maybe the Lithuanian referee Manfredas Lukjanciukas will have better vision than Sven Jablonski. In any case, I’m really looking forward to tonight. It’s going to be a celebration!