VfB Stuttgart wins – Jamie Leweling scores twice

Champions League

National player scores twice: Stuttgart can hope


Updated on January 21, 2025 – 11:10 p.mReading time: 2 minutes

Stuttgart's players celebrate a goal in Bratislava: With the win in Slovakia, VfB can dream of the second round.Enlarge the image

Stuttgart’s players celebrate a goal in Bratislava: With the win in Slovakia, VfB can dream of the second round. (Source: Marijan Murat/dpa)

With only seven points after six games, VfB Stuttgart had to worry about the second round. But in Bratislava there was new hope for the Swabians.

VfB Stuttgart beat Slovan Bratislava 3-1 and is now very likely to move into the second round of the Champions League with ten points. National player Jamie Leweling excelled with a brace for the Swabians; the winger scored in the 11th and 36th minutes. The Swiss Fabian Rieder scored the third goal shortly before the end (87th).

VfB’s expectations were quickly clarified against the Slovaks, who still had no points in this premier class season: a win was a must. Especially since the Stuttgart team still had some catching up to do on the way to the minimum goal of the play-offs. “The Champions League is a great journey for us and we want to extend it,” emphasized coach Sebastian Hoeneß.

The VfB coach initially had to do without Atakan Karazor. The captain “felt a bit of something during the final training” and was therefore sitting on the bench as a precaution, Hoeneß revealed to DAZN. Yannik Keitel formed the double six together with Angelo Stiller.

This in no way detracted from Stuttgart’s game. The runner-up didn’t give the hosts much room to breathe right from the kick-off, and after less than a minute Chris Führich appeared dangerously in front of the opponent’s goal for the first time. Afterwards, VfB repeatedly combined to reach the home team’s penalty area, and the lead was therefore logical.

After two quick passes through the center, Deniz Undav passed it again in the penalty area to the better-positioned Leweling, who put the ball past goalkeeper Dominik Takáč and into the goal. It took around 25 minutes for Bratislava to appear offensively.

However, VfB didn’t have too much trouble with the Slovaks’ counterattacks – and instead increased themselves. After a rebound, Leweling was lucky this time that Takáč couldn’t stop his somewhat slack finish. This is only the second time since Mario Gomez in 2007 that a Stuttgart player has scored two goals in a Champions League game.

In the second half, VfB withdrew a little – also because the home team now put the Swabians under significantly higher and more aggressive pressure. However, it wasn’t really dangerous for VfB goalkeeper Alexander Nübel; on the other side, Maximilian Mittelstädt (67′), Undav (69′) and Ermedin Demirović (82′) missed the decision. Metsoko made things exciting again, but Rieder had the last word.

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