With the exciting first home win in the Champions League in 15 years, VfB Stuttgart preserved its chances of making it into the playoffs of the premier class.
Coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team defeated the Swiss champions Young Boys Bern with a convincing performance 5:1 (1:1) on the sixth matchday after an early deficit and thus moved up to one point from 24th place.
After the shock from Lukasz Lakomy (6th), Angelo Stiller (25th), Enzo Millot (53rd), Chris Führich (61st), Josha Vagnoman (66th) and Yannik Keitel (75th) turned the game in favor of the clear superior Swabians.
In order to reach the playoffs to reach the round of 16, VfB needs another win from the two remaining games at Slovan Bratislava (January 21st) and against Paris Saint-Germain (January 29th).
“We didn’t give the opponent any breathing room and then we deserved to win,” said Swiss VfB midfielder Fabian Rieder about Stuttgart’s strong second half.
The game against his former club was special, the 22-year-old reported on “DAZN”. “We played a good game. I think the first ten minutes weren’t so good, but after that we were even more effective.”
After the 1:5 defeat at Red Star Belgrade, Hoeneß had clear ideas about the game against the current ninth-place team in the Swiss league. “We have to win, that’s our approach,” he emphasized, because: “I’m assuming we need six points.” After the first home win in the Champions League since a 3-1 against Unirea Urziceni in December 2009, three more points are still missing.
A bad start for VfB Stuttgart is quickly forgotten
In contrast to VfB’s intentions, the guests initially appeared bold – and promptly took the lead: goalkeeper Alexander Nübel didn’t look too good when Lakomy shot. The Bernese then ran to the sidelines and held the number 15 jersey into the camera. It belongs to Meschack Elia, who received news of the death of one of his sons before the game. The game only began after a minute’s silence, with both teams wearing mourning ribbons.
Stuttgart then had more of the game, but initially struggled to create good chances against the aggressive Swiss, who relied on man coverage throughout the field. Ermedin Demirovic (22′) had the best shot – he shot just over the goal. However, the strong Stiller took advantage of the next opportunity after some great interaction with Vagnoman.
The equalizer significantly revived the Stuttgart team and they played a power play at times. Millot’s goal on an assist from Fabian Rieder was the almost logical consequence, but it only lasted after minutes of review by the VAR. In order to leave no room for doubt, VfB pressed on, the strong Führich scored a dream goal after a corner, and Vagnoman and substitute Keitel followed up.