VfB have made a change to their UEFA Europa League squad, with Ermedin Demirovic recalled in place of Nikolas Nartey. The 27-year-old is eligible for the match against AS Roma on Thursday 22 January (kick-off 21:00 CET).
When Demirovic was ruled out by injury in October 2025, the Cannstatt club subsequently brought Nartey into their squad for the competition. Nartey featured as a substitute in the matches against Fenerbahce and Go Ahead Eagles, but wasn’t involved against Feyenoord or Maccabi Tel Aviv. Following the lapse of the minimum period of 60 days, the originally selected player can return to the squad – for the player who replaced him.
El Khannouss serving ban
Bilal El Khannouss will be absent in the Italian capital. The attacker, who recently finished runner-up with Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations, was shown a yellow card on Europa League Matchday 6 against Maccabi Tel Aviv – his third booking in the competition. He’s therefore suspended for the away game against Roma.