The German teams in the Europa League and the Conference League still have a good chance of qualifying directly for the round of 16. VfB Stuttgart confidently won 4:1 (2:0) against the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. In the late games, Freiburg won against RB Salzburg 1-0 (0-0), in the Conference League Mainz, being outnumbered by the Polish representative Lech Posen, couldn’t get past a 1-1 (1-1).
VfB Stuttgart achieved a groundbreaking victory in the Europa League. Thanks to the largely confident 4:1 (2:0) against outsiders Maccabi Tel Aviv, coach Sebastian Hoeneß’s team now has twelve points to its name after six games – participation in at least the second round is almost certain. At the same time, a place in the top eight and direct qualification is still possible.
As announced, VfB took the high-security game against the still winless Israeli record champions very seriously: Lorenz Assignon (24th), Tiago Tomás (37th), the strong Maximilian Mittelstädt (49th/hand penalty) and Josha Vagnoman (90th + 4) scored for the Swabians. When Roy Revivo conceded a goal (52′), goalkeeper Alexander Nübel didn’t cut a good figure either. After that, Maccabi was better in the game and embarrassed VfB several times.
With their fourth win in the league phase, Stuttgart initially made it into the top eight. In the two remaining games, the Swabians will first play against AS Roma (January 22nd) and will then host Young Boys Bern (January 29th). In addition to Mittelstädt, Chris Führich was particularly convincing.
Due to the increased security precautions, parts of the VfB annex are refraining from visiting the stadium
The game took place under the strictest security precautions. This meant, among other things, that some of the VfB supporters decided not to visit the stadium and some blocks remained empty. “It’s unfortunate that some of our fans aren’t in the stadium today,” said sports director Fabian Wohlgemuth before the game.
As is usual in English weeks, Hoeneß rotated heavily and made six changes to his team after the 5-0 defeat against FC Bayern, including the Serb Lazar Jovanovic making his starting eleven debut. The motto was clear: “We want and will take the game very seriously, we have to show a good and clear attitude,” said Hoeneß.
In fact, VfB dominated the game from the start because Tel Aviv concentrated on defense and left the initiative to Stuttgart. The Swabians initially struggled to find a gap in Maccabi’s defense, but after Assignon took the lead they never seemed to be in danger of losing the game. However, the Stuttgart team had some lapses in concentration after Mittelstädt’s third goal – the first led to Maccabi’s goal, after which Dor Peretz missed a great opportunity to reduce the deficit further (59′). Until the end of the game, VfB were no longer quite as confident as they had been in the first 50 minutes, then Vagnoman increased their lead in stoppage time.
SC Freiburg is also still on course for the round of 16 in the Europa League. The Bundesliga soccer team defeated top Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg 1-0 (0-0) and thereby maintained its place in the top eight of the table. At the end of the group phase, that would mean direct qualification for the round of the best 16 – without the detour through two playoff games. In front of 31,100 spectators, Austrian Philipp Lienhart scored for Freiburg in the 50th minute. At this point, Salzburg were only playing outnumbered because RB striker Petar Ratkov was shown a red card in the 38th minute after video evidence was used. The Serb had previously hit Freiburg’s Maximilian Eggestein in the face with his elbow. The guests from Austria also had to make do without their German coach Thomas Letsch, who was absent due to illness.
Mainz Veratschnig sees yellow-red
FSV Mainz 05 missed the dream start they had hoped for with new coach Urs Fischer. In the Conference League, the Bundesliga team couldn’t get past a 1-1 (1-1) draw with Polish champions Lech Poznan in the evening. With ten points from five games, the starting position for a direct move into the round of 16 is still good. The decision will be made next week. In the atmospheric arena in front of 28,139 spectators, even coach Fischer’s good hand was not enough for the longed-for away success. Goalscorer Sota Kawasaki (28th minute) scored the opening goal with his first action after coming on for the injured captain Silvan Widmer. Former Nuremberg player Michael Ishak scored the equalizer for hosts Posen with a penalty kick (41st). Nicolas Veratschnig later saw a yellow-red card (67th), which is why Mainz had to end the game with ten men.
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