Champions League | League Stage

Jan 21, 2025 at 8pm UK

Stadion Tehelne pole

Slovan Bratislava vs Stuttgart

Match preview

After opening their Champions League campaign with a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Celtic, things have gone from bad to worse for the hosts.

They have been outscored by 21 goals to five, having lost all six of their group games prior to this fixture.

Having been pitted against the likes of Manchester City, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, among others, it was always going to take something special for the Slovakian champions to take on the big boys of Europe.

They have performed admirably in some competitions, narrowly losing to the likes of AC Milan and Girona, but at other times they have been outclassed, with heavy defeats to City, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb.

After comfortably winning the domestic title last season, this year's table is tighter, with Slovan once again leading the way, although they are only three points clear of MSK Zilina.

However, the home side have won 14 of their opening 18 league matches, including a run of seven wins in their last nine games - their last success coming against DAC Dunajska Streda in December before the winter break.

Meanwhile, the visitors will be looking to improve their away record in the competition this season, having lost two of their three games so far.

Their only away win in the Champions League was an impressive 1-0 victory over Juventus, but that was followed by a humiliating 5-1 defeat at Red Star Belgrade in November.

After the 5-1 defeat in Belgrade, Stuttgart were on the right side of the same scoreline in their last Champions League outing, beating Young Boys in December.

With two wins, one draw and three defeats from six games, the visitors have struggled for consistency on their return to the competition, having not featured in the Champions League since 2009-10.

They qualified for the tournament under the guidance of Sebastian Hoeness, who led them from relegation in 2022-23 to a sensational second-place finish last season - albeit 17 points behind champions Bayer Leverkusen.

This year, they are once again in the thick of the Champions League qualification race, sitting in fourth place in the Bundesliga after 18 games.

They go into this game in fine form, having won seven of their last eight games in all competitions, including a 4-0 thrashing of Freiburg on Saturday.

With the visitors in such good form, they will be hoping that victory in the Slovakian capital on Tuesday night will help them secure a Champions League play-off spot.

Recent Performance

Slovan Bratislava Champions League form:LLLLLL

Slovan Bratislava form (all competitions):LWWLLW

Stuttgart Champions League form:LDWLLW

Stuttgart form (all competitions):WLDWWW

Team News

Slovan will be without Juraj Kucka, who underwent knee surgery earlier this month and is expected to be sidelined for at least two months.

In better news for the home side, Matus Vojtko is in contention to return to action after recently being sidelined with a shin injury.

However, the visitors have a number of injury concerns ahead of the game, with Luca Raimund sidelined with a thigh injury, Justin Diehl nursing a hamstring problem and El Bilal Toure sidelined with a broken metatarsal.

Elsewhere, Dan-Axel Zagadou (knee) remains a long-term absentee, while Maximilian Mittelstadt is a doubt with a muscular problem.

Possible starting lineup

Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:

Takac; Voet, Kashia, Bajric, Medvedev; Savvidis, Kucka, Blackman; Barseghyan, Strelec, Mak

Stuttgart possible starting lineup:

Nuebel; Vagnoman, Rouault, Chabot, Stergiou; Karazor, Stiller, Rieder, Millot, Fuehrich; Demirovic