Stuttgart edge Celta in Europa opener with narrow 2-1 win
Stuttgart got their Europa League campaign up and running with a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo, grabbing only their third ever victory in 16 matches against Spanish sides in Europe. It weren’t always pretty, but the Germans did enough to see it through and keep their good home form ticking along.
Back-to-back seasons in Europe for the first time since 2010/11 had the home fans buzzing, and their side started bright. Lorenz Assignon whipped in a teasing ball that Chema Andrés met well, but Ionuț Radu tipped it away before Jamie Leweling skied the rebound over the bar. Early blow came when young Finn Jeltsch went off injured, and from then Stuttgart struggled to find rhythm for a spell. Luckily for them, Celta didn’t really show up first half – only decent moment was Ferran Jutglà dragging wide after a tidy pass through from Ilaix Moriba. Right before the break, Assignon forced Radu into another sharp stop, a sign of what was to come.
The breakthrough came six minutes after the restart, route one as you like. Keeper Alexander Nübel launched it long, Badredine Bouanani latched onto it, and with a cool lob over Radu he had his first goal for Die Roten. Simple but effective. The hosts were flying now, and soon doubled it when Leicester loanee Bilal El Khannouss caught Celta napping at a short corner, smashing in his first ever European goal to send the crowd wild.
For long spells the Spaniards had nothing to offer, sloppy on the ball and second best all over. Javi Rueda’s wild effort summed it up, nowhere near the target. But out of nothing they did claw one back, Moriba showing brute strength to shrug off Atakan Karazor and sliding in Borja Iglesias, who finished neatly past Nübel. That set up a nervy last few minutes, but Stuttgart dug in to see it out, claiming a third straight home win in all comps.
For Claudio Giráldez’s Celta, it’s more misery, still without a win this season and now just one win in six against German opposition. For Stuttgart though, this is a proper solid start, and they’ll fancy their chances of going deep if they can keep that edge at home.