Pentagon Pursuit | Part 40 | Lucky Champions League Draws

Midway through his second season in Germany, Robaato Rasamu was beginning to realise the size of the task he faced at VfB Stuttgart. FC Bayern had virtually cemented their 30th consecutive Bundesliga title after splashing £300m in the summer and his side were coming up second best against Europe’s elite. But he trusted in his process of investing in promising youngsters.

2042 began with 28-year-old holding midfielder Christopher Asare, who had a 6.79 rating this season, moving to Saudi for £13.5m. Rasamu didn’t replace him directly, bringing in versatile attacker Kenan Nuhic for £4.9m from Hajduk and right winger Iulian Vlad for £5.5m from Universitatea Craiova, and they’re now worth up to £70m and £91m. But his most exciting signing may be 17-year-old Ibrahima Tiréra, who cost £2m from Chateauroux. He also returned to South America to sign attacking midfielder Jorge Luis Mancera for £1.5m from América de Cali.

Blooding Stuttgart’s Youth Prospects

Bundesliga resumed with a thrilling home game against Leipzig, who obviously scored from their first attack. But Stuttgart responded in style to win 4-2 led by a sumptuous curling 25-yarder by homegrown midfielder Adrian Keckeisen, whose progression was partly why Rasamu allowed Asare to move on.

They enjoyed a decent run of form but a 1-0 defeat at Wolfsburg meant the top three was looking a stretch. Bayern absolutely raced away with the league, which saw Stuttgart have to give them a guard of honour as they visited Allianz Arena in mid-April. Bayern came into the game still undefeated after 29 games but Stuttgart gave them a shock as midfielder Havard Fugelhaug scored inside 90 seconds. Rasamu’s former player Bracamonte levelled to prevent them ending Bayern’s unbeaten run. However, that did mean Rasamu still hadn’t lost to Bayern in three attempts.

Behind Bayern, a tasty battle was shaping up, it was just a shame they were so dominant. That came to a head as Stuttgart hosted Dortmund, who led early through a penalty but the hosts fought back for a deserved victory through Dejan Vujicic and Moriké Kanté. That win wrapped up Champions League qualification but a final day draw at Leipzig saw them drop to 4th. They finished on 66 points, a huge 24 behind Bayern who completed the season undefeated to claim a ludicrous 30 titles in a row.

Seeking Champions League Progression

The Champions League resumed with another tricky away day and Rasamu’s first trip to the iconic San Siro to face AC Milan. Stuttgart started brightly with Kocic forcing a good save and striker Henrik Bek Hansen having a goal disallowed inside four minutes. But the Italians soon took control and won 4-0 thanks largely to a disgrace of a penalty decision just before half time.

That poor performance put the pressure on for a big game at home to Ajax, who were one place and one point behind Stuttgart. However, the size of the game clearly didn’t seep through to the players, who again conceded the first shot they faced and quickly gifted Ajax a second. They finally woke up as holding midfielder Martin Glover lofted the ball through for young striker Thomas Wieland to halve the deficit. Rasamu laid into the side at the break then made a couple of subs, which made the difference as Kocic teed up Vlad for his first goal then laid on the winner for Wieland. That final day win secured Stuttgart in 17th place with 13 points, just two off the top eight and four above Porto in 25th.

The knockout playoff round served up an intriguing clash as Stuttgart took on Marseille. The home leg was up first and they should have been ahead on 15 minutes as Kanté somehow didn’t score after rounding the keeper. A poor game saw nothing else happen until Nuhic’s late winner was chalked off for offside. But Rasamu was unhappy that they didn’t even manage to get a shot on target. They were apparently huge underdogs for the trip to France and had yet another goal disallowed as Wieland was ruled offside on 17 minutes. They got in front as Nuhic’s low cross was steered home by Kanté but Marseille piled the pressure on and eventually equalised in injury time. Rasamu rallied the lads and got an instant reward as Havard Fuglehaug converted at the near post. Marseille’s striker quickly responded only for Fuglehaug to immediately double his tally and sneak a 3-2 aggregate win.

Stuttgart got the most favourable draw in the last 16 as they faced Lyon. The home leg was first again and the visitors started strongly before a heavy touch by their goalkeeper gifted an open goal to Vujicic. They swiftly doubled the lead as Kanté set up winger Spasoje Kocic to drill the ball into the far corner. Rasamu was frustrated by a second half in which they let Lyon back in, but maintained a 2-1 lead. He then suffered a mass of injuries and suspensions and Lyon started the second leg much the stronger. But Stuttgart made the breakthrough as a smart counter attack ended up with Kanté sending Vujicic through to finish coolly. Marek Bílek made a fantastic save from a free kick after an hour and Kanté’s deflected shot killed the game off. So a 2-0 win earned a comprehensive 4-1 aggregate success.

Stuttgart also got lucky in the quarter final, drawing Real Sociedad while Bayern faced Milan, Spurs took on PSG and Man UFC played Newcastle. This time they were away first, just about edged the first period and made it count as Kanté teed up Vujicic just before the break then doubled the lead just after it. They were nearly in dreamland a few minutes later as Nuhic’s wonderful overhead kick crashed off the bar then Kocic forced a smart save. But a superb performance took them back to Germany with a solid lead. Sociedad offered a little more in the second leg but a good finish by Keckeisen put Stuttgart in front from a corner on 16 minutes. They doubled their lead from the second phase of a corner as Nuhic teed up a rare goal for left back Gastón Bueno. And a 2-0 win eased them through 4-0 on aggregate.

But this was likely to be the end of Stuttgart’s impressive run as they now faced Man UFC and Rasamu’s former players Monserrat, Gattini and Aguilar in the semis. A trip to Old Trafford was up first buyt Stuttgart got a very lucky flyer as Vujicic’s shot took a wild deflection off a defender’s backside and into the opposite corner. UFC dominated the game and came back to lead 3-1 but a late long range Martin Glover strike, aided by some woeful goalkeeping, gave Stuttgart hope for the return leg. The biggest match in Stuttgart history started slowly as neither side created anything in the first half. But that changed as, with Kocic off the pitch receiving treatment, UFC countered to score. Rasamu went for it and Vujicic went close but UFC denied Stuttgart’s dreams with a 1-0 win and 4-2 aggregate success.

Analysing A Solid Stuttgart Season

Rasamu was pleased with Stuttgart’s season but there was clearly of plenty of work to do to compete with Bayern and the likes of Man UFC. Stuttgart only had the 12th-best possession, pass completion ratio, shots on target ratio and conversion rate in Bundesliga (47%, 86%, 41% and 12%) and the 5th-most goals (58) despite having the 3rd-most shots per game (13.26). They were decent defensively, having the 4th-best defence with 37 conceded massively usurped by Bayern’s ridiculous 15.

Vujicic led the way with 23 goals in 39 games followed by Kanté (10), Fuglehaug (8) and Bek Hansen and Kocic (6). Kocic was the top assister with 13 followed by Kanté (8), Pereira (7) and Ángel Galeano, who hadn’t played since November, and Nuhic (5). So it was clear they needed to be more clinical and find more of a threat in attacking areas.

The promise at the club was bolstered with another solid intake led by striker Oliver Gotz and goalkeeper Karl-Heinz Schwarz plus winger Kenta Watanabe and striker Christian Foda. While Stuttgart’s U19 side won their title ahead of Bayern.