OB bidding to go out on high at Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart are already certain of finishing top of Group H as they play host to back markers Odense BK on Matchday 6, but the Danish side could yet earn third place in their final European fixture of the season.

• Stuttgart lost 4-2 at BSC Young Boys on Matchday 5 but still boast a superior head-to-head record having beaten the Swiss side 3-0 on Matchday 1, and are thus secure in first place. Getafe CF are ahead of OB on head-to-head record alone, and will be overtaken if the Danish side get a better result in Stuttgart than the Spaniards can secure at home against Young Boys.

Previous meetings
• Martin Harnik struck four minutes from time when Stuttgart beat OB 2-1 in Denmark in the teams' first encounter on Matchday 2.

• OB's record from seven European games against German clubs is W1 D3 L3 (W0 D2 L2 in Germany).

• Stuttgart's only meeting with Danish opponents in UEFA club competition prior to Matchday 2 was in a 1996 UEFA Intertoto Cup game at home against Aalborg BK, in which Jesper Grønkjær – who would play for VfB in 2005/06 – scored the goal in a 1-0 win for the visitors.

Match background
• The 4-2 loss at Young Boys on Matchday 5 ended Stuttgart's eight-game unbeaten run in European matches this term and their 100% record in Group H. They also conceded their first goals in Europe after former coach Jens Keller's appointment, while their all-time goals-against tally rose to 201 in 177 games.

• OB have won only one of their last five European away games, beating Motherwell FC 1-0 in Scotland. However, while they may be on their way out of the UEFA Europa League, they have not gone down without a fight; win, lose or draw, they have scored at least once in their last seven games.

Team facts
• Stuttgart parted company with Keller at the weekend after a 2-1 loss to Hannover 96 left the club one place off the bottom of the Bundesliga. Former Hamburger SV coach Bruno Labbadia has been appointed as his replacement, Keller having himself stepped in after Christian Gross was dismissed on 13 October. Labbadia was sacked by Hamburg three days before the second leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final against Fulham FC last season.

• OB parted ways with coach Lars Olsen on 14 September, bringing to an end his three-year tenure at the club. They installed Uffe Pedersen and Henrik Clausen as a coaching team on a temporary basis, the 56-year-old Pedersen having previously been in charge at OB between 2002 and 2004.