Demirović sends Stuttgart to Madrid on a high

Last season’s Bundesliga runners-up have got the ultimate reward for their best-ever points finish, a trip to the iconic Santiago Bernabéu to face Real Madrid in their opening match of the 2024/25 Champions League season.

Sebastian Hoeneß’s side couldn’t have possibly picked a more glamorous game to christen their return to Europe’s top tier for the first time since 2010. On September 22, they will face the 15-time champions and holders at one of sports most hallowed grounds.

Supporters have been rushing for potentially the most sought-after away ticket in the club’s history, but those heading to Madrid for a night to remember may have been getting more nervous than first expected.

Last season they finished above the mighty Bayern Munich and boasted a squad well capable of holding its own in Europe, but a difficult summer dampened hopes.

Top scorer Serhou Guirassy and captain Waldemar Anton left for Borussia Dortmund, while versatile defender Hiroki Ito went to Bayern.

Things appeared to be stabilised with a positive pre-season, and the competitive campaign then kicked off with a stellar showing in a Supercup defeat to champions Bayer Leverkusen, losing on penalties after stunning their rivals in a 2-2 draw in regular time.

Watch: Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 VfB Stuttgart - Supercup highlights

Suddenly, though, things took a turn for the worse. Out of nowhere, Stuttgart lost their Bundesliga curtain-raiser 3-1 to Freiburg and then utterly dominated Mainz next time out in the league only to somehow come away with a 3-3 draw.

A 5-0 win over Preußen Münster in the DFB Cup in between those matches showed what was possible, but it was clear things needed to change before heading to the Bernabeu.

Their last chance to do so came away at an improved Borussia Mönchengladbach, and thankfully for them, they took it.

Deniz Undav, who returned on a permanent deal after a mega 19 goals in 33 games on loan last season, opened the scoring by poking in a rebound from the ever-impressive Jamie Leweling. Alassane Pléa would level things up for the hosts, but then it was time for one of the new boys to step up.

Watch: The best of Deniz Undav

Summer signing from Augsburg and Stuttgart’s new hope up front, Ermedin Demirović, would restore the lead with his third of the season, and then added his fourth to make it 3-1 and claim Stuttgart’s first league victory of the campaign.

Speaking post-match, the Bosnian praised Undav’s impact on his performance, admitting he was ‘hanging his head’ after his first-half performance. “Deniz talked my ear off,” he said. “‘Keep going, keep going’, It's good for a team like that when you have Deniz, who pushes you the whole time and keeps saying positive things. I did better after that.”

Undav will certainly be a known quantity to Madrid, and likely Demirović too after their breakout seasons in 2023/24. However, there’s someone else that will be giving Carlo Ancelotti a headache, and boosting those fans heading to the Spanish capital.

Demirović’s first goal required some ingenuity to pivot and tap-in, but even he admitted it was 80 per cent thanks to someone else - Fabian Rieder.

The thrilling young Swiss loanee from Rennes performed by far the best assist of the season so far, taking on Luca Netz in an unfavourable race. Rieder played the ball forwards, and it looked like it was his opponent’s, but he ran off the pitch, around the linesman, and recovered the ball before feeding his teammate to make it 2-1.

"He does it superbly, naturally,” Demirović said. “He keeps the ball in play and plays it perfectly forward. I didn't know he was so fast.”

Hopefully for Stuttgart’s sake, Madrid don’t either.