Stuttgart sporting director: "FC Porto? We're in for a real test" | OneFootball

Stuttgart will be FC Porto’s opponent in the Europa League round of 16, as determined by the draw held this Friday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Fabian Wohlgemuth, sporting director of the German club, sees the match-up as “a huge challenge.” “For us, Stuttgart, it’s fantastic to be in the round of 16 of a European competition for the first time in 13 years. We are very much looking forward to the games against FC Porto. We will face an opponent who qualified directly for the round of 16 after finishing fifth and who currently leads the Portuguese league. Therefore, a great challenge awaits us, which we approach with all due respect, but also with confidence and great expectation,” he said, as quoted on the club’s official website.

Having finished the league phase in fifth place, the Dragons were seeded, so they will play the first leg in Germany (March 12), with the second leg at the Dragão to be played a week later.

If they advance, FC Porto will face in the quarter-finals the winner of the tie between England’s Nottingham Forest, coached by Vítor Pereira, and Denmark’s Midtjylland.

Stuttgart, where Portuguese player Tiago Tomás plays, eliminated Celtic in the play-off, with a 4-1 win in Scotland, having been defeated at home by a single unanswered goal. They finished 11th in the league phase and are currently fourth in the Bundesliga, with 43 points from 23 matches.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.