With a 3-0 win over 1.FC Köln, VfB Stuttgart celebrated their first victory under Bruno Labbadia in his second term. The coach was visibly relieved, but also knew how to put the success into perspective.
Bruno Labbadia is happy about the 3:0 together with assistant coach Benjamin Sachs.
IMAGO/Michael Weber
VfB Stuttgart had been waiting for a win for six games. The hoped-for turnaround after the dismissal of Pellegrino Matarazzo did not initially materialize under Bruno Labbadia either. Accordingly, a lot of pressure had accumulated in the Swabians. But the home game against 1. FC Köln should be a chest release. VfB had lost a lot of leads this season, but not this one.
New signing Gil Dias gave his side the lead after just nine minutes. “We got into the game well with the beautiful goal. After that we had a short phase of weakness and got back in better just before the break,” Labbadia is quoted as saying on the club’s website.
Even after the change of sides, it was then a matter of getting through a small phase of pressure from Domstädter unscathed before Stuttgart became more dangerous offensively again and increased the lead to 2-0 (59th) with a free kick from Borna Sosa, which is well worth seeing – a goal that VfB liked -Trainers came almost too late. “We could have done it earlier, but we lacked the last bit of self-confidence to continue straight away,” said Labbadia.
Labbadia saw progress without the needed results
It is hardly surprising that this self-confidence was lacking. The promoted team from 2020 had lost all of their first three second half games in the Bundesliga. Despite the small series of bankruptcies, the team had already made progress during this time, as Labbadia clarified on ARD: “The victory was an important step. But it wasn’t the first. We’ve actually taken more steps, just not from the Result.” And football is a result sport, according to Labbadia. It’s all the nicer “that we delivered today”.
Sosa also delivered, who not only shone with his free kick on the offensive, but also repeatedly demonstrated his strength in the cross. “We showed today that we want to stay in the Bundesliga. In this stadium, in front of this backdrop, we can keep up with any opponent. We want to do more next week,” emphasized the 25-year-old Croatian.
The three points are what the team needed. It’s now up to us to build on this victory and keep going.
Labbadia also agreed. “The three points are what the team needed. It’s now up to us to build on this win and keep going.” Next Saturday (6.30 p.m., LIVE! on kicker) VfB will be up against a direct competitor in the battle for relegation at Schalke.
It should also be encouraging that the Stuttgart team kept a clean sheet against Cologne for the first time in 16 games. Labbadia had already surprisingly put Fabian Bredlow between the posts during the narrow defeat in Freiburg, who kept his box clean this time.
“He had a good charisma, was stable and played well,” praised Labbadia, who also sees a positive example in his former reserve keeper. “It’s important for the boys to realize that if the training performance is good over a longer period of time, then I’ll get my chance.”
