Stuttgart vs Atletico Madrid on Tuesday 20 October is the first competitive meeting between the clubs. The only previous one was a 1-1 friendly for Stuttgart's 125th anniversary in August 2018. Diego Simeone's Atletico are second in La Liga and beat Manchester United 2-0 last time out in Europe. Sebastian Hoeness's Stuttgart are 11th in the Bundesliga, but they opened this campaign with a record hat-trick.
The tables say Atletico. I think the individual matchups at the MHPArena are closer than that.
Stuttgart
Atlético MadridKick-off is 21:00 in Stuttgart and Madrid, 20:00 in the UK and 3pm ET in the US.
Demirovic's twelve minutes
Ermedin Demirovic scored all three goals in a 3-1 win over Viking FK on Matchday 1, inside 12 minutes of the first half. It was the first hat-trick of this Champions League season and the first by a Stuttgart player in the competition. The Bosnia and Herzegovina striker has four goals in seven appearances this season.
He'll probably have Cristian Romero for company. Romero arrived from Tottenham in the summer, settled quickly and even scored the late winner at Alaves. He likes to step out and win the ball before the striker can turn, and he rarely loses a physical duel.
That might suit Demirovic more than you'd think. He doesn't hold the ball up much; his goals come from quick movement across the front of defenders and early finishes. If Romero jumps out too eagerly, the gap behind him is where Demirovic did his damage against Viking.
Undav against Hjulmand
Deniz Undav set up two of those three goals. He drifts into the space between midfield and defence, receives on the half-turn and plays the pass a striker wants, and that partnership is most of the reason Stuttgart look dangerous in Europe.
Atletico bought Morten Hjulmand from Sporting partly to deal with players like Undav. The Denmark midfielder screens the back four, reads passes early and knows when to stop a counter with a foul. If he keeps Undav quiet, Demirovic starves. If Undav finds the pockets either side of him, Stuttgart will create chances, as they did in a 4-1 win over Koln.
Grimaldo and Stuttgart's box
Stuttgart's real weakness is defending their own penalty area. They've conceded nine goals in five Bundesliga games and lost at Bayern Munich (5-1), at Hoffenheim (2-1) and at home to Borussia Dortmund (1-0).
Alex Grimaldo is about the last player you'd want to face with that problem. He spent three seasons at Bayer Leverkusen and won the Bundesliga there in 2024, so nothing in Germany will surprise him. He has three La Liga goals this season, two of them penalties, and his crosses and set pieces give Atletico a way to score that doesn't depend on open play. Every corner will be a test for the Stuttgart centre-backs.
How the two coaches will play it
Hoeness wants his side quick and high up the pitch: two strikers who combine, full-backs who push on, a press that tries to win the ball early. When it works, as it did against Viking, Stuttgart can finish a game in a quarter of an hour. When it doesn't, they leave space, which explains the patchy league form.
Atletico have changed a lot since the summer. Antoine Griezmann left for Orlando City, and around 130 million euros went on Hjulmand, Romero, Lee Kang-in from PSG and Grimaldo, while Jonathan David arrived on loan from Juventus and has three league goals. Alex Baena has four in the league, and against United Pablo Barrios scored inside the first minute before Ademola Lookman added the second on 79 minutes.
The defence is very Simeone. Eight goals conceded in eight La Liga games, and the only league defeat was 3-0 at Athletic Club in early September. Since then they've won at Real Sociedad, beaten Osasuna 4-0, won the derby 2-1 against Real Madrid and won 2-1 at Alaves. Their one European loss came at Anfield, where Marcos Llorente scored but Liverpool won 2-1. Expect Atletico to give Stuttgart the ball, stay compact and break through David and Lookman. ESPN has the match page for Atletico 2-0 Manchester United.
Stuttgart vs Atletico Madrid: team news and our pick
Stuttgart's fitness is the question. Nikolas Nartey (thigh), Tiago Tomas (muscle), Ameen Al-Dakhil (knee) and Luca Jaquez (muscle) were all missing before Wednesday's game against Slovan Bratislava, and Jeff Chabot and Maximilian Mittelstadt faced late fitness tests. Demirovic and Undav will start. Stuttgart go to Hamburg on Saturday, so we'll know more after that.
Atletico reported no new injuries after United. Simeone's side should be built around Hjulmand and Barrios in midfield, Romero at the back and Grimaldo on the left, with David up front.
Stuttgart have the crowd and the striker to score. I just think Atletico's consistency, and Grimaldo's dead balls, win it 2-1 for Simeone, with Demirovic getting Stuttgart's goal.
In Germany DAZN carries the Champions League and Amazon Prime Video gets one Tuesday game each matchday; in Spain it's Movistar Plus+.
HBO Max UK
Paramount+ US
HBO Max Mexico
DAZN Canada
Sony LIV
Stan Sport AU
MultiSports 6 FR
Sky Go IT
DAZN Portugal
HBO Max BR
MAX Sport 1 BG
IQiyi CN
Arena Sport 5 HR
Nova Sport 3 CZTo watch Stuttgart vs Atletico Madrid free, use our Champions League live streams page, open around kick-off. Atletico fans can bookmark the Atletico Madrid live stream page, both clubs' league games are on our Bundesliga streams and La Liga streams hubs, and in Spanish there's ver Atletico Madrid en vivo and Champions League en vivo. PSG host Barcelona the same night (our preview).
