Stuttgart go for it at Getafe

Having won 1-0 at home against Getafe CF on Matchday 3, VfB Stuttgart know that a UEFA Europa League victory in the Madrid suburbs would guarantee them one of the top spots in Group H.

• Should Stuttgart win, they would be through, while a draw might also suffice provided Odense BK fail to beat BSC Young Boys in the section's other game.

Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time on Matchday 3.

• Prior to meeting Stuttgart, Getafe's only experience of German opposition came from the 2007/08 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, where they lost out on away goals to FC Bayern München. Both legs finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, but it was 3-3 after extra time in Getafe, with Luca Toni scoring twice late on to push Bayern through.

• Stuttgart's 14 games against Spanish sides have ended W2 D4 L8 (W0 D2 L5 in Spain). They had gone 12 games – and over 21 years – without a win against Liga opponents before their 1-0 success against Getafe on Matchday 3.

Match background
• Getafe have lost only once at home in Europe, going down 2-1 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage. Their record in eight home games to date reads W6 D1 L1, though they have only once won by a margin of more than one goal, beating AEK Athens FC 3-0 in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 32.

• Stuttgart are unbeaten in seven European fixtures this season – five wins and two draws. They have not lost in three games on their travels since a 4-0 loss at FC Barcelona in last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16.

Team facts
• Stuttgart have had 31 shots on goal in the first three matchdays, more than any other side in the competition. They have scored six times.

• Stuttgart are three goals shy of 200 conceded in UEFA club competition. This will be their 176th UEFA game.

• Both of Getafe's group stage goals this season came after half-time.

• One of the five locally born players at the heart of Madrid's successful 1980s and 1990s sides – dubbed the Quinta del Buitre (the Vulture's Cohort, in honour of their leader Emilio Butragueño) – Míchel won six Spanish titles and two UEFA Cups as a Madrid player. Initially a TV pundit after retirement, Míchel went into coaching with Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, joining Getafe in April 2009 after a spell with Real Madrid's academy.

• Stuttgart parted company with Swiss coach Christian Gross on 13 October with the club bottom of the Bundesliga. He had joined VfB in December last year. Gross has been replaced by his assistant Jens Keller, a former Stuttgart player who also represented TSV 1860 München, VfL Wolfsburg, 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt.