VfB Stuttgart hunt crucial Europa League win against Maccabi

Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness said that "most things are known," confirming a few injury concerns: Ermedin Demirovic and Yannik Keitel are still recovering, while Dan-Axel Zagadou and Luca Jaquez remain in rehab. He added that Jeff Chabot is unavailable because of suspension after yellow cards.

Despite those absences, Hoeness stressed the importance of what's at stake: "We have a very important match. With a win, the likelihood is very high that we'll stay in the competition with 12 points." He acknowledged that Maccabi are capable of causing trouble:

"They're a team that wants to play football. They're capable of causing us real problems. It's the Europa League." He concluded: "It's all about performance, not pre-match talk."

Stuttgart have looked strong in Europe, beating Go Ahead Eagles 4-0 and Feyenoord Rotterdam 2-0 in recent group matches.

Their league campaign has been shakier, including a heavy 5-0 home defeat to FC Bayern Munich in their last Bundesliga outing.

On the other side, Maccabi have struggled badly in Europe, picking up just one point from five games, scoring once and conceding 14, the worst defensive record in the group.

Their morale is low after a 6-0 thrashing by Olympique Lyonnais, and they'll also be missing right-back Sagiv Jehezkel, who was sent off in that game.

All signs point to Stuttgart being strong favourites to bounce back and secure progression, but as Hoeness warned, Maccabi will demand focus and performance if they want to keep their European hopes alive.