VfB Stuttgart

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Under fire Stuttgart trainer Armin Veh has insisted there is no miracle cure to his side’s present poor situation, and that a lot of hard work lays ahead of the reigning league champions.

The Swabians grabbed their first points on Saturday against Leverkusen after five defeats on the bounce. Andreas Beck fired in a second half goal to hand VfB a narrow 1-0 win.

“Our situation is still precarious, so we are far from euphoric about the situation, I am a football coach not a magician” said Veh.

“It is obvious we have some big problems after our defeats. I wanted my players to show some fighting spirit and that is what they did.

“Now and again, you need a bit of luck, but sometimes you have to work for it and make your own.”

Stuttgart were boosted by the return of influential midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, but were then hit with a further injury blow when Roberto Hilbert was forced off with suspected ankle ligament damage.

The midfielder will be unavailable for at least two weeks and out of Armin Veh's side until after the next international break.

The fact that Hitzlsperger played at all us proof of the problematic personnel situation at the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion with Mathieu Delpierre, Artur Boka, Ludovic Magnin, Antonio da Silva and Ciprian Marica all out injured.

“Under normal circumstances Thomas would not have played without first having trained with the team” admitted trainer Veh.

“But that’s just added proof of our injury crisis” he added.

Goal.com - Germany - Veh: I’m Not A Magician

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DFB-Pokal, 2nd Round

Stuttgart 3 - 2 Paderborn

31' [1 - 0] T. Hitzlsperger
36' [2 - 0] T. Hitzlsperger
66' [2 - 1] E. Koen
69' [2 - 2] N. Döring
118' [3 - 2] M. Gomez

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Delpierre nearly back

VfB Stuttgart coach Armin Veh is well prepared for the match against 2. Bundesliga side SC Paderborn in tomorrow`s crunch DFB cup match.

Judging by his squad announcement the VfB coach is not about to experiment in tomorrow`s match. Matthieu Delpierre is available again after completing 45 minutes in match last week.

Veh is not planning any major changes despite beating Leverkusen 1:0 last week.

Who will play alongside Gomez?

Pavel Pardo is expected to play after being suspended in the league. Cacau is missing, as are Meira and Gledson who are both suspended. Marica or Ewerthon will partner Gomez in attack.

"Marica is fit again and Ewerthon has trained well. He has yet to produce this form on the pitch.� said Veh.

***

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Nurnberg 0 - 1 Stuttgart

25' [0 - 1] M. Gomez

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Champions VfB Stuttgart pick up the points and enjoy Bundesliga revenge over 1.FC Nürnberg who beat them in the cup final last year.

The cup winners lost at home to the champions 0:1 (0:1) and could not give their coach, Hans Meyer, a 65th birthday present.

Gomez the scorer

Mario Gomez scored the only goal of the game in the 24th minute. It was his fifth goal of the season and the champions` third straight win.

For Nürnberg it was already their fourth home loss of the season. They have only managed one win in twelve competitive matches so far.

45.565 spectators saw the home side begin with purpose. However, for all of their hard work outside of the area they struggled to create many clear openings. Joshua Kennedy nearly scored an equaliser but his effort hit the post and rebounded out to safety.

Schäfer to thank

In the second half the home side applied pressure on their former keeper`s goal. The ex-Nürnberg keeper, Schäfer, saved well from Kennedy and Tomas Galasek. Marek Mintal also missed a chance towards the end as VfB held on to victory.

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Stuttgart trainer Armin Veh believes the 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Nürnberg shows his side are on the road to recovery.

A first half Mario Gomez goal was enough to seal an important win at the easyCredit Stadion and spoil Hans Meyer’s birthday party.

“Of course we are very happy with the result. Over and above that we dominated large parts of the game. There were a few things which didn’t go so well, but in our situation that’s quite normal” he explained.

“It was however another step forward towards the performances we are capable of, and the players are gaining in self confidence.

“In our next games we will be looking to play an equally compact game and want a positive result against Lyon” he added.

Goal.com - Bundesliga - Veh: Another Step In The Right Direction

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Draw, defeat, win, defeat, win, defeat, win, defeat, defeat, defeat, win, win.

VfB have clearly lacked consistency this season, but things could have changed thanks to their first away win.

Two clean sheets

1-0 over Leverkusen, 1-0 in Nuremberg - what has changed in Stuttgart's last two matches? Quite a lot!

VfB had conceded 18 goals in their first ten matches, now they've kept two clean sheets - thanks to a better defensive performance, including a strong showing by goalkeeper Raphael Schäfer against his former club.

"That certain bit of luck"

"It was a very important win for us. We've now won the third match in a row (including the DFB Cup win over Paderborn) and secured important points. It's especially important for our confidence that we kept a clean sheet. Especially at the death we then had that certain bit of luck that you simply need in football", Schäfer was a happy man in Nuremberg.

How do you say: you have to work hard for luck. Mario Gomez, scorer of the winning goal, agrees: "I've always said that we should talk less and work more. Now we've worked the luck back. It was a sign that we can achieve a lot by fighting", the goal-getter stressed.

"Keep working hard"

Fernando Meira agrees and demands "we have to keep working hard in the next weeks to further improve the tuning in our game."

The work rate has already improved considerably. Armin Veh's team had won 51 per cent of their one-on-one duels in the first ten matches, compared to 56.9 per cent against Leverkusen and Nuremberg. More aggressive, more compact!

Now Lyon and Bayern

But Stuttgart don't have time to rest on their laurels. On Wednesday it's Lyon away in the Champions League, on Saturday FC Bayern come to town.

"It was a further step towards the performance we would like and it will give the players confidence. We now concentrate on playing compact in the next matches and want to get a result in Lyon", Veh said.

And five matches unbeaten would certainly be quite consistent already.

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German champions VfB Stuttgart have a mountain to climb to stay in Europe - let alone reach the knock-out stages - ahead of the trip to Lyon.

But although VfB know that the Bundesliga is the main priority after three defeats in the Champions League, they still haven't given up ahead of Wednesday's clash with Lyon (20:45).

Hitzlsperger demands a win

"We have a great responsibility for the club, the fans and German football", German international Thomas Hitzlsperger declared. "We need the three points so that Germany climbs in the UEFA ranking."

Hitzlsperger had missed the first leg (0-2), but afterwards VfB have picked up three straight wins, two in the Bundesliga and one in the DFB Cup.

And not only the results are improving, the injury list is getting shorter as well. Matthieu Delpierre has returned alongside Hitzlsperger, but coach Armin Veh is not feeling too comfortable yet.

"We must work football"

"Due to the problems of the past weeks it's nearly impossible to play good football at the moment. We need other virtues, we must work football."

Defeat in Lyon would completely end Stuttgart's hopes of overwintering in Europe, but sporting director Horst Heldt has not given up just yet. "At least third place is still possible", Heldt declared.

A real treat

But even if Stuttgart lose, the VfB delegation will be in for something to remember: as usual, Olympique have invited their guests to a dinner served by star cook Paul Bocuse.

And the next treat is just around the corner anyway: Bundesliga leaders FC Bayern come to town on Saturday.

Line-ups as expected:

Lyon: Vercoutre - Reveillere, Squillaci, Cleber Anderson, Grosso - Juninho, Fabio Santos, Kallström - Govou, Benzema, Ben Arfa

Stuttgart: Schäfer - Beck, Tasci, Delpierre, Magnin - Meira, Pardo, Hitzlsperger - Bastürk - Gomez, Cacau

Referee: Juri Baskakov (Russia)

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40' Lyon 3 - 1 Stuttgart

really interesting match ...

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Mario Gomez scored for Stuttgart .

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HT 3-1 for Lyon.

The second half has just started.

Can't see Stuttgart changing things anyway.
They've lost this match aswell.

I can't believe they can't win a single match.
Do not forget people, they're representing a Germany champion.
What a shame they bring to the country.

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56th min

3-2 now.

Beck with a pass to Gomez in the zone.
And Super Mario scores.

Stuttgart doesn't seem ready to give up yet.
Let's see what can they do in the upcoming matches.

Anything but a win will be labelled dissapointing, obviously.

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59th min.

Penalty for Stuttgart.

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Hitzlsperger shoots from the white spot, but Lyon goalie denies him.

It stays 3-2 for Lyon.

Shame!

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And you know what?

That was never a penalty though.
It was not even in the zone line.

After all, it wasn't a foul either.

Hahahaha..

'Awesome' refereeing.