The fans were missing, the performance was right: VfB Stuttgart achieved an important victory in the Europa League and put itself in a good starting position in the fight for the playoffs. The Swabians won confidently 4-0 (2-0) at the Go Ahead Eagles Deventer late on Thursday evening and moved into the top midfield in the table. Thanks to the goals from Jamie Leweling (20th, 35th), Bilal El Khannouss (59th) and Badredine Bouanani (90th + 4), VfB can once again hope for a direct entry into the round of the best 16, the top eight are only one point away with three games still to play. “To deliver such a performance today is very good,” said double goalscorer Leweling on RTL, “we can build on that.” Teammate Deniz Undav added: “We didn’t let anything go wrong here and finished the game quickly.”
In Deventer, VfB not only had to do without the ailing Tiago Tomas and Dan-Axel Zagadou, who suffered a muscle injury in the final training session, but also a large part of their own organized fan scene, who had left before the game. The background was that the Dutch authorities had banned the supporters in three VfB fan buses from entering Deventer because of alleged aggressive behavior, as the club announced before kick-off. “We are in close contact with the authorities and UEFA and are pushing for a complete investigation into the events,” said CEO Alexander Wehrle.
Mainz missed a big step towards the round of 16
Even without the hoped-for support, the Swabians dominated the game from the start in the “De Adelaarshorst” stadium. Leweling took advantage of a fatal loss of the ball by the Go Ahead Eagles in front of their own goal to take the lead. Deventer didn’t find its way into the game, but VfB acted quickly: Leweling completed a counterattack with a dry shot into the near corner. The guests had little trouble and could have led even higher at the break. With the restart, the Dutch cup winners appeared a little more courageous, but things weren’t really dangerous in front of VfB goalkeeper Alexander Nübel’s goal. Stuttgart managed the lead – then El Khannouss increased the score by converting a pass from the strong Undav. Bouanani scored the final point in stoppage time.
SC Freiburg remained undefeated in the fifth game of the Europa League. The Bundesliga team drew 0-0 at Viktoria Pilsen on Thursday evening. Freiburg has now collected eleven points in the league phase and is thus staying at the top of the table.
FSV Mainz 05, on the other hand, suffered their first defeat in the Conference League and missed a big step towards the round of 16. Coach Bo Henriksen’s Rheinhessen lost 0-1 (0-0) at Universitatea Craiova in Romania and did not leave the field as winners for the first time in the fourth game. With nine points, Mainz are still in a good position and have realistic chances of a place in the top eight, which entitles them to direct participation in the round of 16.
