Ruthless

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Rund um den Brustring

·7. November 2024

Ruthless

In their second home Champions League game against Atalanta, the unbeaten streak at Neckarstadion comes to an end. The team actually does a lot right and makes only a few mistakes—but these mistakes are all the more costly.

Finally got a foothold again. After Bayer Leverkusen left us out to dry last Friday with their relentless pressing, with VfB only seeing a bit of action near the end of the game, half a week later they demonstrated what they are capable of—at least in part. Defensively, the team didn’t have to rely solely on their goalkeeper Alex Nübel and the goalposts, as they managed to fend off many of the Italian guests’ attacks—though not all of them. The home loss to Bergamo is the best example of what happens if you don’t play at the absolute limit against Europe’s elite, fail to capitalize on your chances, and don’t have a few situations go your way: you’re ruthlessly punished. In many statistics and for large stretches of the game, VfB was on par with the current Europa League champion. Until two poorly defended attacks decided the game.

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But this isn’t about pointing fingers at players like Anthony Rouault, who missed a tackle before the 0–2, or Chris Führich and Maxi Mittelstädt, whose passive defending led to the 0–1. In many other situations, the team handled defensive tasks well as a unit and wasn’t trapped by aimless long balls forward. Quite the opposite: Sebastian Hoeneß and his players quickly recognized that Atalanta could be shaken by focused defending and quick counterattacks. The defense worked well, the transitions too; it’s just that the resulting attacks weren’t executed decisively enough. Just a few minutes after falling behind, Führich—who was once again impressive—dribbled through the opponent’s penalty area but couldn’t find Demirovic with his pass. Or when the very active target man El Bilal laid off a long ball just a bit too short, denying Enzo Millot a one-on-one with Bergamo’s goalkeeper. Or Jarzinho Malanga, who nearly crowned his debut with a remarkable goal.

The Toughest Opponent?

A Stuttgart goal was unfortunately thwarted by Bergamo’s very effective defense. While Juventus had allowed almost no goals before facing VfB and mainly had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping the score down after the defeat, Atalanta had already conceded 14 goals in their league before this match. Who knows what that says about Serie A, but in the Champions League, the North Italians remain unbeaten. It’s tempting to say that this was perhaps the toughest opponent in this new league phase for VfB. Sure, Real and Juventus have big names and on paper boast excellent squads, but both struggled much more against VfB—not for nothing were Thibaut Courtois and Mattia Perin each named man of the match. This isn’t to sugarcoat the defeat but to put it in perspective: VfB has had an outstanding season and qualified for the Champions League as runner-up. It should be clear that we’re not at the top of the food chain here, but we’re also no pushovers.

Nevertheless, the sporting situation remains challenging. On Sunday, we’re expecting the next strong opponent in Eintracht Frankfurt at Neckarstadion—possibly without Deniz Undav, who had to be substituted against Bergamo due to an injury. Fortunately, the team has recently been handling these absences reasonably well. Chris Führich is regaining form in time to fill in for Leweling, and on Wednesday night, Anrie Chase stood in for Jeff Chabot as if he’d been playing at this level for years, showing a clear improvement from Tuesday’s performance. After two goalless games against admittedly strong defenses, it would be nice to see the offense get back into gear on Sunday. Enzo Millot, Chris Führich, Ermedin Demirovic, and El Bilal will need to show a bit of ruthlessness themselves.

Picture: © Alex Grimm/Getty Images