VfB Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeneß has addressed the question of whether a potential rivalry is growing between Bayer Leverkusen, who they face on Friday evening.

On the question of whether Stuttgart and Leverkusen have recently become rivals, Hoeneß said:

Hoeneß then added:

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso also showed his respect for Stuttgart in his press conference and described their games as ” “Always very intense” and insightful”I’m exhausted after every game against Stuttgart.”

The games between Leverkusen and Stuttgart under Alonso and Hoeneß were always entertaining. The Werkself were only able to beat Stuttgart once in regular time and Jonathan Tah needed the winning goal in the 90th minute in the last DFB Cup season.

Every other game ended in a draw (1:1, 2:2 and 2:2), but while the last encounter ended in a draw, Leverkusen won the DFL Supercup on penalties earlier this season. The game at the BayArena in August was the most heated game, as Martin Terrier was sent off on his debut and eleven yellow cards were handed out between the teams.

GGFN | Jack Meenan