Three days before their international comeback on the Champions League stage at Real Madrid, VfB Stuttgart have achieved their first Bundesliga victory of the season. Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 (1-1) on Saturday and are well prepared for their first international appearance in the premier class in 15 years. Before that, the Swabians had only managed a 5-0 victory in the cup against second division promoted team Preußen Münster.
In front of 53,756 spectators in Borussia Park, Alassane Plea (27th minute) scored the goal for the hosts on the 80th birthday of club legend Günter Netzer. National player Deniz Undav (21st) and Ermedin Demirovic (58th/61st) scored twice for the Swabians. Felix Brych celebrated his 354th appearance, making him the record referee in the Bundesliga.
Stuttgart coach Hoeneß had changed his team in three positions ahead of the start of the Champions League next Tuesday in Madrid in order to manage the workload. Fabian Rieder moved into the starting eleven for the first time, Josha Vagnoman returned to the starting line-up after five months. New signing Demirovic also received a starting ticket this time. Dan-Axel Zagadou and Anthony Rouault, who were recently injured, were back in the squad.
Real Madrid always in the back of my mind
The VfB coach had mainly addressed the problems in defence after conceding six goals in two games. It was also not easy not to focus on this highlight before the appearance in the Champions League. “It is not possible to completely block it out,” said Hoeneß.
The guests initially struggled against a confident Gladbach team, which celebrated its first win of the season with a 2-0 victory in Bochum and, as in the opening match against champions Bayer Leverkusen (2-3), presented itself well. Coach Gerardo Seoane relied on his well-rehearsed team and also left out the recovered Robin Hack, Mönchengladbach’s best goalscorer of the past season, in the starting eleven.
Plea hits and injures himself
However, Stuttgart took the lead after some impressive preparatory work on the right wing by Vagnoman through the dangerous Undav, who used a rebound from Omlin after a shot from Jamie Leweling to make it 1-0. The hosts’ response was not long in coming. After a pass from Kevin Stöger, Plea headed the equalizer, but had to be substituted due to injury.
In the intense match with a high tempo on both sides, a double strike from Demirovic decided the game. First, the 26-year-old scored with skill from close range after preparatory work by Fabian Rieder to make it 2-1. Three minutes later, the centre-forward was in the right place again and scored from a corner to make it 3-1.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240914-930-232526/1
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