Stuttgart vs Sparta Praha facts

Stuttgart are looking to bounce back from defeat on their UEFA Champions League return as they welcome a buoyant Sparta Praha to Germany on Matchday 2.

While Stuttgart's first Champions League game since 2010 ended in a 1-3 loss at holders Real Madrid, Sparta – who had not appeared since 2005 – beat Salzburg 3-0, their biggest win in the competition since 2001.

This is the clubs' first meeting, and Stuttgart's first game against a Czech club in the 21st century.

Form guide

Stuttgart

Record vs Czech clubs: W2 D1 L1 F7 A6
Home record vs Czech clubs: W2 D0 L0

Stuttgart have not faced Czech opponents since March 1998, when they were 3-1 aggregate winners against Slavia Praha in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals (1-1 a, 2-0 h).

Their only other tie against a team from Czechia was a remarkable 4-5 aggregate loss to Dukla Praha in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup third round (4-1 h, 0-4 a).

This is Stuttgart's fourth appearance in the Champions League proper and a first since 2009/10. Then they were second behind Sevilla in their section to reach the round of 16, where they were eliminated by holders Barcelona (1-1 h, 0-4 a).

Stuttgart won their first three home games in the Champions League proper but have only two victories in the subsequent eight (D2 L4).

The German club have not taken part in European competition since 2013/14, when their UEFA Europa League campaign lasted two ties. They beat Botev Plovdiv of Bulgaria on away goals in the third qualifying round (1-1 a, 0-0 h) but lost out to Croatia's Rijeka in the qualifying play-offs (1-2 a, 2-2 h).

Stuttgart are without a win in seven home European matches (D5 L2), since a 2-0 defeat of Dinamo Moskva in the 2012/13 Europa League qualifying play-offs.

Sebastian Hoeneß guided Stuttgart to second place in the 2023/24 Bundesliga – his first full season in charge having taken over in April 2023. It was the Swabians' highest league finish since winning the last of their five league titles in 2006/07.

Sparta Praha

Record vs German clubs: W4 D4 L5 F14 A17
Away record vs German clubs: W1 D3 L3

Sparta last faced German opponents in the 2015/16 Europa League group stage, drawing 2-2 away and 1-1 at home against Schalke.

That made it one win in Sparta's last nine games against Bundesliga clubs (D4 L4), a 1-0 home victory against Hertha Berlin in the 1999/2000 Champions League second group stage. The Czech club had won three of their first four games against German clubs.

Sparta have drawn three of their last four games in Germany, losing the other.

Sparta featured in the Champions League group stage seven times, one more than all the other Czech clubs combined – although their last appearance came in 2005/06, the seventh time in nine seasons they had made it that far.

The Prague club subsequently lost nine times in qualifying – including in 2023/24, when they were eliminated on penalties by Copenhagen in the third qualifying round (0-0 a, 3-3 h aet, 2-4 pens).

Sparta therefore moved into the Europa League and finished second in their section behind Rangers before eliminating Galatasaray in the knockout round play-offs (2-3 a, 4-1 h) only for Liverpool to prove too strong in the last 16 (1-5 h, 1-6 a).

Rudí started this season in the Champions League second qualifying round, beating Shamrock Rovers of the Republic of Ireland (2-0 a, 4-2 h) before getting the better of Romania's FCSB (1-1 h, 3-2 a). Sparta sealed their return to the competition proper after 19 seasons by beating Malmö 2-0 both away and at home in the play-offs.

The Prague club have won all three away European games in 2024/25 – as many as in their previous 27 matches (D3 L21).

Lars Friis succeeded the Feyenoord-bound Brian Priske as Sparta coach in June.

Priske had taken Sparta to their second successive league title, and 38th overall, in 2023/24 – the first time they had won successive championships since 2001. Sparta also claimed the Czech Cup last season for a 16th time, completing a sixth domestic double.

Links and trivia

Stuttgart defender Anthony Rouault and Sparta midfielder Veljko Birmančević were team-mates at French club Toulouse in 2022/23.

Latest news

Stuttgart

On Saturday Stuttgart twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Wolfsburg, Deniz Undav scoring a 97th-minute equaliser.

Stuttgart had won their previous two Bundesliga games, beating Borussia Dortmund 5-1 at home on 22 September.

The Swabians are unbeaten in 14 Bundesliga home games (W10 D4), their longest run in 17 years.

Undav scored twice against Dortmund and has five goals in his last four Stuttgart games.

Ermedin Demirović also scored against Dortmund and twice in Mönchengladbach, and has six goals in nine games for club and country.

Yet to play this season, Leonidas Stergiou (back) and Ameen Al-Dakhil (hip) are back in training.

Dan-Axel Zagadou, who was sidelined by a knee problem between 27 January and 14 September, suffered another knee injury on 25 September.

Dennis Seimen (2029), Maximilian Mittelstädt (2028), Atakan Karazor (2028) and Thomas Kastanaras (2026) have all recently agreed new contracts.

Sparta

Sparta's 15-game unbeaten run this season (W13 D2) was ended by a 2-3 home defeat against Sigma Olomouc on Friday.

That ended Sparta's 19-match run without a league defeat (W15 D4), since a 4-0 loss at Viktoria Plzeň on 10 March.

Sparta had been unbeaten in all competitions since the 6-1 loss at Liverpool in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg on 14 March; their subsequent record was W23 D5.

The Czech champions had won seven of their previous eight league games in 2024/25.

Sparta are the top scorers in the Czech top flight this season with 20 goals.

The Prague club have kept five clean sheets in their last seven games.

Summer signing Imanol García has not been included in Sparta's Champions League squad after suffering a knee injury on his debut, a 2-1 win at Bohemians Praha on 10 August.