Europa League
“The Can Opener”: Stuttgart celebrates an important victory
Updated on November 6, 2025 – 11:14 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
After a tough first half, VfB came out of the locker room with an increase in performance. Shortly before the end, this paid off.
VfB Stuttgart celebrated an important victory in the Europa League. In the MHP Arena at home, Sebastian Hoeneß’s team beat Feyenoord Rotterdam 2-0 (0-0) late on. After four games, the ambitious Swabians, who recently lost to Basel and Fenerbahçe, now have six points in their account.
Bilal El Khannouss (84th minute) and Deniz Undav (90th + 2) scored late goals for VfB in front of 60,000 spectators, but they were disappointing for long stretches. “It was a strange game, we weren’t that into it. Bilal’s goal was the can opener. We have a good starting position,” said Undav on RTL after the game.
On November 27th, the Swabians can get a little closer to their minimum goal of the round of 16 against the Go Ahead Eagles from the Netherlands. First of all, Stuttgart will be challenged in the derby against FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday. For Feyenoord, leaders of the Eredivisie, the situation in the Europa League remains poor with only three points.
The spectators, including more than 3,000 Feyenoord supporters who marched to the stadium with a fan march accompanied by a large police presence, saw a slow start. A competitive German-Dutch encounter developed in which the big goal scenes were a long time coming.
With inaccuracies and ball losses, VfB made the task against the Dutch league leaders more difficult. Numerous nicks on both sides often interrupted the flow of the game. In front of the goal, Undav’s header and long-range shot were far too harmless in the opening quarter of an hour. The hosts failed to challenge former Schalke goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther, who was born in Karlsruhe.
But the 16-time Dutch champion was rarely dangerous. A few minutes before half-time, however, the hosts were lucky when Goncalo Borges slipped in the penalty area and missed the chance to take the lead. Goalkeeper Alexander Nübel had previously had to intervene against Anis Hadj-Moussa (13th).