Stuttgart made the short hop over the border to face Swiss champions Basel in the Europa League. Sebastian Hoene\u00df\u2019s team were looking to make it two wins from two in this season\u2019s competition, having held on in the dying embers to beat Spanish side Celta Vigo on matchday one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Die Schwaben <\/em>are the second Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg outfit Basel have faced in as many games so far in this competition, with the Swiss side having been beaten 2-1 by Freiburg last time out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite being favourites for this game, Hoene\u00df\u2019s side got off to a terrible start. Angelo Stiller gave the ball away on the edge of Stuttgart\u2019s own third. He seemed to get away with it, but after recovering the ball, Badredine Bouanani put it on a plate for Albian Ajeti to tuck past Alexander N\u00fcbel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ermedin Demirovi\u0107 squandered a golden chance for a leveller. The Bosnia and Herzegovina international found himself unmarked at the edge of the six-yard box but placed his header over the crossbar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Demirovi\u0107 would get another chance to level the game with a penalty after Tiago Tom\u00e1s was fouled in the Basel box. However, thanks to VAR, Demirovi\u0107 was made to wait an age after setting up to take the spot-kick\u2014never ideal for the taker\u2014and Marwin Hitz made saving the Bosnian\u2019s effort look easy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stuttgart huffed and puffed for the majority of the second half with little success. Basel broke away late in the game and Xherdan Shaqiri looped the ball over Alexander N\u00fcbel into the net, wrapping up the points for the Swiss side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to forget that little more than two years ago, Stuttgart found themselves in the relegation play-off against Hamburg. They have achieved so much since: a remarkable second-place finish in the Bundesliga the following season, and a DFB-Pokal win in the last. Yet despite this success, Hoene\u00df\u2019s team still has a very fresh look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With some notable absentees\u2014including Chris F\u00fchrich, Jeff Chabot, and Atakan Karazor\u2014filling up Stuttgart\u2019s bench in this game, only four players who started against Basel also started the Pokal final in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Basel did very well to limit VfB to very little going forward besides the penalty. Stuttgart grew frustrated throughout the game, resorting to shots from distance and route one balls up to Demirovi\u0107. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stuttgart racked up an astounding 29 attempts, but Hitz stood firm, and their growing desperation was plain to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoene\u00df made a double change on 70 minutes, bringing on F\u00fchrich and Bilal El Khannouss for a thwarted and tiring Jamie Leweling and Chema Andr\u00e9s. Neither player would have the desired effect on the game before Shaqiri sealed the win for Basel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It has been intriguing to watch how Stuttgart have adapted following the sale of Nick Woltemade to Newcastle. The injury to Deniz Undav has undoubtedly not helped either. Demirovi\u0107 has made a decent start to the season, with three goals and an assist in the first five Bundesliga matches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, on nights like this\u2014when the Bosnian wasn\u2019t firing on all cylinders\u2014Stuttgart needed another source of attacking impetus. Despite dominating possession, Leweling was also kept quiet by the resolute Basel backline. F\u00fchrich fared no better when he was introduced with the score still at 1-0. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully for Hoene\u00df, Undav\u2019s return is in sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLack of cohesion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Desperate football<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Post Woltemade Stuttgart<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n