Of all people, Antonio Rüdiger brought the sky-high VfB Stuttgart team back down to earth as they reached for the stars. The former Swabian’s goal sealed the 3-1 (0-0) victory between defending champions Real Madrid and the courageous underdogs at the start of the Champions League.
Stuttgart shook up the Bernabeu football temple in a strong first half. But Kylian Mbappé (46th) just 21 seconds after the restart and national player Rüdiger with a header (83rd) struck with ice-cold precision. Endrick made it 1-0 (90th+6). VfB showed a lot of courage and bravery and never gave up. Despite Deniz Undav’s goal to equalize (68th), it was not enough.
Hoeneß initially foregoes Demirovic
Stuttgart’s next opponent is Sparta Prague on October 1st. Other opponents include Italian record champions Juventus Turin, Europa League winners Atalanta Bergamo and Paris Saint-Germain.
One or two of the 4,000 loud VfB fans among the 81,044 spectators may have rubbed their eyes dreamily at the return to the premier class. Or, as CEO Alexander Wehrle put it: “It all seems a bit strange to us, but it’s real!” 14 years and 184 days after the 0:4 defeat at FC Barcelona with the young Lionel Messi, VfB was back – and how!
In contrast to Jens Lehmann, Sami Khedira and Cacau back then, the Swabians were awake immediately this time. The fact that coach Sebastian Hoeneß had initially left out top striker Ermedin Demirovic because of the oversupply in the attack was of no consequence: the underdog created chance after chance in the opening phase.
And Real? Did little to underline its ambitions for the “decimosexta”, its 16th title. In midfield, the former workplace of the retired maestro Toni Kroos, the balls were lost too quickly. There were individual actions such as that of Mbappé (25th), who was stopped by the well-reacting Alexander Nübel. On the other side, a deflected shot from Deniz Undav landed on the crossbar (28th).
Undav scores with a header
Then suddenly: penalty for Madrid! Antonio Rüdiger went down in a duel between the national players and Maxi Mittelstädt, referee Halil Meler pointed to the penalty spot (33′). But the TV images proved: Mittelstädt had not fouled Rüdiger, and Jude Bellingham, ready to shoot, gave the ball back, visibly insulted.
It was an unequal duel: for VfB, this was only their 30th appearance in the most important European cup, while Madrid has 490. Before the match, Real’s veteran Luka Modric alone had 100 more appearances than the entire Stuttgart squad (28). This difference was only noticeable after the break. Mittelstädt misjudged a long ball, and the ball went via Rodrygo to Mbappé, who only had to finish.
The guests were now under real pressure for the first time for a longer period of time. Bayern’s bogeyman Vinícius Júnior hit the crossbar (59′). But Stuttgart did not give up. After a corner, the strong Jamie Leweling found the free Undav, who headed the ball into the far corner.
Rüdiger did something similar.
