Stuttgart claim place among Bundesliga big boys but another crossroads looms | Andy Brassell

Köln had been here before. “It’s not the second time, but the fifth or sixth time,” said forward Marius Bülter, “that we’ve sat in the locker room after a game, not able to blame ourselves much, but still left with zero points.” His coach, Lukas Kwasniok, described it as “Groundhog Day,” after “a more than decent performance against top opponents”.

Their words are the signal, if it were needed, that Stuttgart really have arrived at the top of German football. Effzeh’s players and coaching staff alike felt that this fitted snugly into a growing list of hard-luck stories; last week’s home loss to RB Leipzig, last month’s game with Bayern Munich when the champions didn’t take the lead until late on, or even the autumn defeat at Dortmund where they were beaten by Maxi Beier’s goal deep into stoppage time.

That Sebastian Hoeness and his players are now viewed among the Bundesliga’s shot callers and big ballers speaks volumes for how far they’ve come. Time will tell but it feels like this could be a pivotal weekend for VfB, a feeling given credence by what happened next. Saturday’s win took Hoeness and company into the top four; the two points surprisingly dropped by Leipzig at home to Wolfsburg on Sunday allowed them to stay there. This is what being one of the big boys is all about.

As is plying points from unpromising situations. Aiming to recover from last week’s shock loss at relegation candidates St Pauli, this was hard going for Stuttgart. Ermedin Demirovic had given them a first-half lead but it was hardly decisive, and when Kwasniok took an uncharacteristic gamble by making some ultra-attacking substitutions, the momentum changed.

Ragnar Ache’s superbly taken equaliser for Köln came with just 11 minutes of normal time to go, but the home side kept their cool. Demirovic’s second, smoothly steered in from Ramon Hendricks’ cross, put them back in front just under five minutes later, before Deniz Undav wrapped it up in stoppage time. Demirovic and Undav faced the media together afterwards, with the latter praising the Bosnian No 9 as having “saved my arse” with his finishes.

Undav spurned a one-on-one chance in the first half, his nonchalant chip too close to the Köln keeper, Marvin Schwäbe. The forwards are part of a four-pronged attacking armada at Hoeness’ disposal, with the coveted Jamie Leweling on one side and Chris Führich on the other. They can find the combinations to open most safes. After Undav had fluffed his lines, Demirovic got Stuttgart going by concluding a direct move which was atypical of a possession-hungry side, smashing home after Leweling headed a long crossfield pass into his path.

This was all after a week in which Stuttgart’s understated excellence came a little more into wider focus. The name of Hoeness was on other fans’ lips again, put forward as a potential candidate for Tottenham in the summer after Thomas Frank’s sacking. Undav, enjoying perhaps a best-ever season with almost a goal per Bundesliga start and a barrel of accompanying assists, has his future on the block. Stuttgart want to extend his contract which has just a season left after this one. The club are inclined to add just two seasons to it, though, rather than the three Undav wants, as he turns 30 this summer.

What happens next will either add towards the club’s story of recent seasons, platforming stars like Serhou Guirassy, Waldemar Anton, Nick Woltemade and more, who emerge and then go elsewhere, or will take them to the next level. Big decisions await, and Stuttgart need to decide what they really want to be. What is certain is that they can no longer hide their light under a bushel.

Talking points

On the other side of Saturday’s fence all is far from rosy in Köln, despite it being Karneval season. Teenage star Saïd El Mala again started from the bench, provoking significant fan anger towards coach Kwasniok, who was already walking on eggshells. As well as making Effzeh a touch one-dimensional, the marginalisation of El Mala is hurting his chances of being a World Cup wildcard for Germany. Brighton especially keen on making a summer move for the teenage winger.

Harry Kane was always likely to reach the dual mark of 25 league goals for the season, and 500 for his career, at freefalling Werder Bremen. He scored a first-half penalty to reach the first target, then scored his 500th career goal with an exquisite finish from outside the area. This was such a foregone conclusion for Bayern Munich that conversation quickly turned to where the England captain’s numbers might end up this season. Kane is 15 goals away from matching Robert Lewandowski’s single-season Bundesliga tally. “I don’t care about the record, and I will tell Harry that to has face,” grinned Vincent Kompany, underlining Kane’s commitment to team goals.

Playing and winning on Friday night against Mainz, Dortmund did exactly what they did last week, temporarily closing the gap on Bayern to three points overnight. Despite Mainz being in the thick of the relegation battle this was a very satisfying victory for BVB, not so much because of the lingering ghost of the 2022-23 season’s final day, but because they swept aside in-form opponents, Arsenal-ing them with four goals from set-pieces. All were delivered by Julian Ryerson, with the Norwegian now up to 11 assists in the Bundesliga this season – only Michael Olise has more. Before this week’s Champions League playoff first leg against Atalanta, the other good news for Niko Kovac is that Guirassy has rediscovered his goalscoring touch. His double agains Mainz took him to five goals in his last three games – as many as he managed in his previous 25.

Leverkusen got back on the horse after last week’s disappointing display at Mönchengladbach, sweeping aside St Pauli 4-0 to keep the pressure on the top four; they trail Stuttgart by three points with a game in hand. The successful return of Ibrahim Maza, outstanding for much of the first half of the campaign, was key. He played just the first 45 minutes, as Kasper Hjulmand planned, before a glut of fixtures going into next month’s international break. Die Werkself face Olympiakos in the Champions League playoff and can count on veteran Jonas Hofmann, back in the squad for the knockout stages.

A little (OK, a lot) further back in the European race, Eintracht Frankfurt finally got back on the winning trail after nine games, dispatching Gladbach 3-0 on Albert Riera’s home debut as coach. Wing-backs Nathaniel Brown and Ayoube Amaimouni both starred and scored, though the real headline was keeping only a second clean sheet since early November. Riera has already made a huge impact but it is clear that he is reorganising on the fly, and used the post-goal celebrations to pass on instructions. “This is the best time to reach my players,” he emphasised. “I want to control every detail.”