After their success at Juventus Turin, VfB Stuttgart suffered a setback in the Champions League against Atalanta Bergamo. A former Bundesliga professional scores a goal for the Italians.
Atalanta Bergamo ruined VfB Stuttgart’s next big Champions League evening. Thanks to a goal from the former Leipzig player and a goal from Nicolo Zaniolo, the German runner-up lost 0-2 (0-0) against the top Italian club despite a courageous performance.
Lookman, who once played for RB Leipzig, scored in the 51st minute in front of 60,000 spectators. It was the striker’s eighth competitive goal of the season. Last season he scored all three goals in the Italians’ 3-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final. Substitute Zaniolo put the lid on the game against VfB in the atmospheric arena (88th).
The late 1-0 win at Juventus Turin two weeks ago gave the Stuttgart team a boost for their further international tasks. But they have to wait for their first home win in the premier class in almost 15 years. In December 2009 they won 3-1 against FC Unirea Urziceni. Bergamo remained unbeaten for the fourth time and without conceding a goal for the fourth time on matchday four of the league phase.
National player Mittelstädt’s save is worth seeing
The first half had few real highlights but was still entertaining. Especially in the lively opening phase it was clear that there were two teams on the pitch who knew what to do with the ball and were looking for playful solutions.
Atalanta has already scored 29 league goals this season. Caution was always advised, especially with the technically strong offensive trio with the 27-year-old Lookman, the top new signing Mateo Retegui and the 70-time Croatian international Mario Pasalic. At one point before the break the ball almost landed in the VfB goal, but defender Maximilian Mittelstädt saved with a great tackle against Pasalic (31′). Anthony Rouault missed Stuttgart’s best chance in the first 45 minutes with a header (11th).
They proved again right at the start of the second half how strong the Lombards are and what quality they can bring from the bench. Joker Charles De Ketelaere broke through surprisingly effortlessly down the right side, fed Lookman – and he scored from close range to make it 0-1. Just five minutes later, Stuttgart’s substitute Ermedin Demirovic was just prevented from equalizing.
VfB tried until the end, but ultimately their actions were not compelling enough. On the other side, De Ketelaere tested Stuttgart’s national goalkeeper Alexander Nübel again with his head (73′) before Zaniolo scored with a low shot to make it 0-2.
dpa/LaGa
