VfB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig to face off in UEFA Champions League six-pointer
To round off Matchday 26, VfB Stuttgart host RB Leipzig in a crucial clash in the battle for UEFA Champions League qualification. Here’s how they compare ahead of the encounter at the MHP Arena…
After disappointing league campaigns last season, both sides have improved markedly this term. Having secured European qualification in every season since their promotion in 2016, Leipzig finished outside the continental spots in 2024/25, ironically losing to Stuttgart on the final day of the season as they finished in seventh.
This term, though, they are once again in the mix for Europe, only outside the top four on goal-difference. At one point, they were even Bayern Munich’s closest challengers at the top of the table.
That victory on the final day of last season had little impact on the Swabians' campaign, as they were already out of the top-six race by that point. A ninth-placed finish was seven positions lower than 2023/24 as they struggled to juggle Champions League football with their domestic responsibilities.
A mixed first 14 games this time around suggested they were having the same issues, even if they were instead in the UEFA Europa League on account of their DFB Cup success. Now, though, they have lost just one of their past 12 games.
The two outfits’ records are strikingly similar. They have both won 14 games (more than the the whole of last season for each), drawn five and lost six, while conceding 34 times apiece. Only in terms of goals scored is there a slight difference, with Stuttgart having netted two more than their upcoming opponents.
Watch: Leipzig 2-3 Stuttgart - final-day drama
Even some of the underlying numbers are almost identical, suggesting these teams play a similar style of football. Leipzig's 53.2 percent of duels won is marginally lower than Stuttgart's 53.3, with four of the five players with the highest individual percentages in the Bundesliga this season set to line up on Sunday evening.
Such are the parallels between the teams, this upcoming clash is likely to be decided by moments of individual quality, and each head coach will be confident that their stars are the ones who can deliver when it matters.
For Stuttgart, the standout performer this term is undoubtedly Deniz Undav. In the 2-2 draw with Mainz on Matchday 25, he scored in a fourth game in a row for the first time in his Bundesliga career, taking his league tally for the season to 15.
Watch: Mainz 2-2 Stuttgart - highlights
Harry Kane is the only player to surpass that tally, while no other German has more than 10. His impressive form puts him in the picture for Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany squad at next summer's FIFA World Cup.
The 29-year-old will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing Leipzig, in particular, given he has scored four times in four previous appearances against them - that includes a hat-trick in 2023/24.
He will be joined by a strong supporting class, with Jamie Leweling amongst them. The winger, who is also making a push to be named in the Nationalelf squad this summer, has six Bundesliga goals in 2026 alone.
Meanwhile, Ole Werner will look to Christoph Baumgartner and Yan Diomande for inspiration. The former has found the back of the net 10 times this term, his single-season record, as he continues to grow in Bundesliga stature.
Diomande, meanwhile, has been one of the breakout stars of the campaign. Against Augsburg – a game in which Leipzig came from behind to win for the second fixture in succession – he dragged his side back to level terms for his 10th goal of the campaign.
For context, that makes him the fourth-youngest player in Bundesliga history to reach double figures for strikes in a single season, after Olaf Thon, Lukas Podolski and Jadon Sancho – very good company to hold.
Watch: Diomande named February's Bundesliga Rookie of the Month!
It also makes him the joint-highest scoring Ivorian in one term, too, equalling Boubacar Sanogo’s haul from 2005/06 at Kaiserslautern. He is not just a goalscorer, though, also managing five assists to underline his threat as an all-round offensive talent.
Of course, the players mentioned are just the headline acts from two squads packed with quality, and both deserve to be playing on Europe’s biggest stage. However, victory for either here would not only significantly boost their own chances of achieving their ambitions, but would also dent their opponents’ charge. It promises to be a Champions League six-pointer in Baden-Württemberg.
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