Stuttgart came to the Národny Futbalovy Stadión for the 20:00 BST match with three points after a 3-1 home win over Viking FK on matchday 1; Slovan had lost 6-1 away to Paris Saint-Germain. Sebastian Hoeneß made five changes to his starting lineup, bundesliga.com reported, bringing in goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow, Ramon Hendriks, Bilal El Khannouss, Dzenan Pejcinovic and Grischa Prömel. Stuttgart and Slovan both played a 4-2-3-1, with Dominik Takac in goal for Slovan.
A fast break, an own goal and a late header
- 29' Slovan Bratislava 0-1 VfB Stuttgart: Deniz Undav, a left-footed shot from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner, set up by Angelo Stiller on a fast break.
- 64' Slovan Bratislava 0-2 VfB Stuttgart: an own goal by Slovan's Sandro Cruz.
- 90' Slovan Bratislava 0-3 VfB Stuttgart: Ermedin Demirovic, a header from the left side of the six-yard box into the bottom left corner from a Lorenz Assignon cross.
Undav had been denied twice in a goal-line scramble a few minutes before he scored, and his shot took a slight deflection on its way in, according to bundesliga.com, which noted it was his first goal of the season. Josha Vagnoman hit the crossbar with a volley soon afterward, and Takac saved from El Khannouss and Chris Führich before the break, so Stuttgart led only 1-0 at half-time.
The second goal began with Vagnoman's low cross, which deflected off Cruz and rolled through Takac's legs, the same report said. Cruz had struck the crossbar at the other end just after the hour. The third came from two Stuttgart substitutes. Assignon, on for Vagnoman in the 86th minute, crossed four minutes later, and Demirovic, who had replaced El Khannouss in the 81st, headed in nine minutes after coming on. Demirovic scored all three Stuttgart goals against Viking on matchday 1, according to Flashscore, so he now has four in two Champions League games this season.
The disallowed goal and the benches
Slovan's best spell came early in the second half. In the 53rd minute Suleiman Camara had a goal ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review; replays showed Andraz Sporar had touched the ball before it reached Camara, bundesliga.com reported. Had it stood, the score would have been 1-1. Hoeneß named that goal and Cruz's shot against the crossbar as the two moments his side did not defend well, in his DAZN interview quoted by Bulinews.
In the first half, we didn't allow anything, nothing significant, and created a great deal ourselves.
Sebastian Hoeneß, VfB Stuttgart head coach, to DAZN via Bulinews
Both coaches used their benches in the last 20 minutes. Hoeneß sent on Leo Sauer for Führich and Jamie Leweling for Pejcinovic in the 71st minute, then Atakan Karazor for Stiller in the 80th. Slovan replaced Cristian Martínez with Artur Gajdos and Cruz with Kevin Wimmer in the 75th, and made three more changes in the 81st: Roman Cerepkai for Tigran Barseghyan, Alasana Yirajang for Sporar and Nino Marcelli for Camara.
Stuttgart collected three yellow cards, all for fouls: Hendriks in the 12th minute, El Khannouss in the 26th and Vagnoman in the 77th. Peter Pokorny, booked in the 85th, was Slovan's only caution, so four yellow cards were the whole disciplinary record, and no penalty was awarded. Hoeneß called the conditions difficult, and Prömel said there was a lot of sand on the pitch and many players were slipping, Bulinews reported.
Nevertheless, we accepted the conditions, worked our way into the game and deserved to win.
Grischa Prömel, VfB Stuttgart midfielder, to DAZN via Bulinews
Slovan vs Stuttgart: shots, saves and passing
| Stat | Slovan Bratislava | VfB Stuttgart |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 35.9% | 64.1% |
| Shots | 15 | 16 |
| Shots on target | 1 | 8 |
| Corners | 1 | 8 |
| Fouls | 11 | 15 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 3 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Offsides | 1 | 2 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 6 | 1 |
| Passes (completed) | 358 (291) | 629 (560) |
| Crosses | 9 | 25 |
Slovan took 15 shots to Stuttgart's 16 but put only one on target, and Bredlow saved it. Takac made six saves from Stuttgart's eight shots on target; the other two were the goals by Undav and Demirovic. Stuttgart had eight corners to one and 25 crosses to nine, and completed 89% of their passes to Slovan's 81%. Slovan made 12 interceptions to Stuttgart's five and 26 clearances to 22. On Sofascore, Stuttgart's Jeff Chabot was the top-rated player with 9.1, after 10 clearances and three blocks, and the site's expected-goals model gave Stuttgart 1.89 to Slovan's 0.73.
Stuttgart fourth, Slovan last
Stuttgart have six points from two games, with two wins, six goals scored and one conceded. After two of eight league-phase games they are fourth in the 36-team table, level on points with Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Aston Villa, who are ahead on goal difference, plus seven to Stuttgart's plus five. They are one of nine clubs on six points and the highest-placed German club, with Bayern Munich 10th on four points.
Slovan are 36th and last: no points from two defeats, one goal scored and nine conceded, a goal difference of minus eight. Eight clubs are still without a point, and Galatasaray, 35th on minus five, are the nearest to Slovan. In the league phase each club plays eight games; the top eight go straight to the round of 16, ninth to 24th play a two-legged knockout phase play-off and 25th or lower are eliminated, as UEFA explains.
Roma for Slovan, Atlético Madrid for Stuttgart
- Slovan Bratislava: away at AS Roma, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
- VfB Stuttgart: at home to Atlético Madrid, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
Stuttgart return to Bundesliga action against Hamburger SV on Saturday, according to Bulinews. Atlético Madrid are 15th on three points; our report on their matchday 2 game against Manchester United has the details. Roma are 25th with one point. Stuttgart's Bundesliga position is on our Bundesliga table, and the Bundesliga simulator lets you fill in the remaining German fixtures.
Where the facts come from: ESPN's match data supplies the goals, assists, cards, substitutions, lineups, team stats and both clubs' records, and we computed the league-phase table from ESPN full-time results of all 36 games on matchdays 1 and 2, three points for a win, ranked by points, goal difference, goals scored, away goals scored, wins and away wins. Context and quotes come from bundesliga.com, Bulinews, Sofascore, Flashscore and UEFA.