VfB Stuttgart vs. Porto: UEFA Europa League round of 16 LIVE blog and team news

VfB Stuttgart host Porto at the MHP Arena for the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie on Thursday (kick-off: 6.45pm CET).

Stuttgart are one of three German teams still going well on all three fronts this season, in the running for a top-four spot and European qualification in the Bundesliga, into the semi-finals of the DFB Cup they currently hold, and now also in the last 16 of the Europa League.

Can Stuttgart go all the way in Europe?

Sebastian Hoeneß’s men finished the league phase in 11th place, just a point outside the top eight after a record of five wins and three defeats. They then saw off Celtic in the play-offs 4-2 on aggregate after an impressive 4-1 win in Glasgow afforded them a comfortable position.

Porto lead their domestic league ahead of defending champions Sporting Lisbon and were able to skip the knockout play-offs in the Europa League after coming fifth in the league phase with a record of five wins, two draws and one loss, finishing two points above Stuttgart.

Follow the first leg below!

VS

Stuttgart

Thu, 12.03 17:45

Porto

Europa League
Round of 16, first leg Round of 16, first leg MHP Arena

2:05

Watch: Deniz the menace

Deniz Undav is VfB's leading marksman overall this season with 18 goals in 33 competitive outings.

On fire in Europe

Bilal El Khannouss is firmly in the race to finish as top scorer in the competition this season. The Morocco attacker has found the net five times so far, leaving in in fourth place and just two goals behind joint leaders Igor Jesus (Nottingham Forest) and Petar Stanić (Ludogorets).

© IMAGO/Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

1:04

Watch: Stuttgart's top 5 goals this season

Porto - the story so far

The Portuguese side finished fifth in the league phase, with five wins, two draws and one defeat, thereby going straight through to the last 16 and avoiding the knockout phase play-offs.

© Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey

Stuttgart - the story so far

VfB narrowly missed out on a top-eight spot in the league phase (W5 D0 L3), ultimately ending up in 11th. As such, they had to navigate a play-off against Celtic, which they won 4-2 on aggregate.

© IMAGO/Michael Weber IMAGEPOWER

Hello and welcome

Thank you for joining us for build-up and live match coverage of Stuttgart's meeting with Porto in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.

About the clubs

VfB Stuttgart

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