In the first legs of the Europa League round of 16, the German Bundesliga clubs VfB Stuttgart and SC Freiburg suffered defeats. Stuttgart lost 1:2 to FC Porto, and Freiburg 0:1 to KRC Genk. Mainz 05 drew 0:0 with Sigma Olomouc in the Conference League.
VfB Stuttgart lost 1:2 (1:2) at home to Portuguese league leaders FC Porto in the Europa League round of 16 first leg. Before 60,000 spectators in the sold-out MHPArena, Deniz Undav scored for Stuttgart (40th minute). Terem Moffi (21st) and Rodrigo Mora (27th) netted for Porto. A potential equalizer by Angelo Stiller (70th) was disallowed for offside. National team player Undav commented post-match on RTL: "We made individual errors that get punished at this level. Against a team like that, it's hard to score two goals." Looking ahead to the return leg in Porto next Thursday (9 p.m., RTL), he said hopefully: "The chance is definitely still there because they're not better than us. We just need to match them, be gritty, get dirty if needed." Advancing would mark Stuttgart's first quarter-final in 28 years.
SC Freiburg fell 0:1 (0:1) away to KRC Genk. Zakaria El Ouahdi scored the lone goal (24th minute). An early strike by Johan Manzambi (9th) was ruled out. Coach Julian Schuster had warned of the Belgian side's strength. Defender Matthias Ginter told RTL+: "Honestly, in the first half, a few positions weren't at the form of recent weeks. We didn't have the solutions." Without suspended Maximilian Eggestein, midfield stability was lacking. Freiburg has managed only two away wins in the Bundesliga this season and one in Europe. The return leg is on Thursday (6:45 p.m.) in Freiburg, preceded by a Bundesliga match against 1. FC Union Berlin. In prior years, the Breisgau side exited in the round of 16 against Juventus Turin (2022/23) and West Ham United (2023/24).
In the Conference League, FSV Mainz 05 drew 0:0 away at Sigma Olomouc. This keeps alive the club's chance for its first-ever quarter-final. Winter signing Silas possibly suffered a serious shin injury and was stretchered off. A home win in the return leg on Thursday (6:45 p.m.) would secure progression. If advancing, Mainz faces the winner of HNK Rijeka and Racing Strasbourg, with Strasbourg leading 2:1 after their first leg. Reaching the round of 16 was already a milestone for the Mainzer.
