Stuttgart point to 'special' Atletico draw as blueprint to rescue Bundesliga campaign

Swabians salvage a point — and renewed belief — against Simeone's side

VfB Stuttgart players and officials insist that Tuesday evening's 1-1 Champions League draw with Atlético Madrid can serve as a turning point in a deeply disappointing Bundesliga campaign. Sebastian Hoeneß's side played the final half-hour with a numerical advantage yet had to settle for a share of the spoils, but emerged from the MHP-Arena convinced they had produced definitive evidence of their quality.

Stuttgart entered the night having collected just six points from their opening six Bundesliga fixtures, but they had won both of their opening Champions League encounters and delivered another convincing European display against Diego Simeone's Spanish title challengers. Jamie Leweling rewarded the hosts' aggressive pressing with a 36th-minute opener — his first goal since March — before Julián Álvarez equalised immediately after the interval. Morten Hjulmand was sent off in the 64th minute, but Stuttgart could not convert their extra man into a winning goal.

'We are good, that's not up for debate'

Left-back Maximilian Mittelstädt insisted the performance settled any questions over the squad's ability. "We are good, that's not up for debate," Mittelstädt told reporters in the mixed zone. "If you perform like that against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, there's no room for a split opinion. We have the ability to perform within us. Today, I had the feeling that we gave 100 percent from the start. Everyone pushed themselves to their limits. With such energy, we're a top team."

He pinpointed the difference between Europe and domestic struggles as finishing, not football. "We have attacking quality," Mittelstädt continued. "What's been missing these last few weeks and months has been capitalizing on opportunities. It's absolutely the case that, against a team like Atletico, one has to turn a little into a lot. Unfortunately, we turned a lot into a little today. We nevertheless put forth a good game and we can build on that in any case."

Wohlgemuth hails 'best game of the season'

VfB board member for sport Fabian Wohlgemuth was similarly encouraged, crediting the atmosphere inside the MHP-Arena — where an elaborate choreography from the Cannstatter Kurve helped inspire the hosts. "These games in the middle of the week are something special," Wohlgemuth said. "In the Champions League, the fans are ever more present. After the choreo, the fans were excited and present. They put a lot of work [into the choreo] and it had a special effect on the players. Our players were driven towards a top performance. That's one reason why, in my opinion, it was the best game of the current season."

Stuttgart's high-intensity approach disrupted Atlético's attempts to establish possession, and the visitors — who arrived on a six-match winning streak across all competitions — struggled to cope with the hosts' pressing. "Today, we witnessed a draw against one of the best teams in Europe," Wohlgemuth added. "One of the most aggressive teams [in Europe] wasn't able to impose its game on the pitch today. We managed it and pushed them to the brink of defeat. We're basically all happy. We all know what we're capable of. That there was more in the game today, yes I'm aware of that."

Wohlgemuth maintained the club had never lost faith despite Saturday's defeat to Hamburger SV — a fourth Bundesliga loss in six matches. "We haven't always proved this season that we can hold our own," he emphasised. "We nevertheless knew that we have a good team. We knew that when we push ourselves to the limit, we can play against the top teams. We have proof of that today based on the performance."

Crucially, he believes the night can lay a foundation for the league. "We can take a lot out of this game," Wohlgemuth continued. "The teams that are ahead of us in the Bundesliga [table] – there may be more of them than at this precise point last year – we can pick up points against them. That [feeling] is stronger after [tonight's] game than before [tonight's] game."

Prömel identifies a benchmark

Midfielder Grischa Prömel, restored to the starting XI, suggested the display could serve as a standard for the matches ahead. Asked directly whether Stuttgart were improving, he offered a measured response: "Whether or not it's better, I don't know. We would have liked to have taken all three points. I can say it was a lot of fun to be on the pitch with the lads. Today we saw what the coach wanted from us and what we want for ourselves, and it's possible to view tonight's game as a benchmark."

Prömel praised the collective intensity. "I think we showed today what it meant to be there for each other and fight for each other," he said. "We had a lot of solid ball wins, high recoveries, and direct actions in the direction of the goal. There's not much to hold against the team today apart from the fact that we didn't win. Maybe that sounds a bit abstract, but that's how it is."

For a side starved of consistency domestically, the occasion itself was a reminder of what the team can achieve. "It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it," Prömel said. "One doesn't play against Atletico every day. When one walks out and witnesses that choreo, it just fits in with the whole evening. It was an absolutely lovely Champions League evening. One dreams of such things and that's what makes all the daily hard work worthwhile."

From European promise to domestic pressure

The performance arrives against a stark domestic backdrop. Prior reporting from 20 October noted that while Stuttgart had won both Champions League fixtures, they carried four defeats from six Bundesliga matches, scoring only eight times from 12.3 expected goals — a wastefulness underlined by midfielder Angelo Stiller topping the Champions League with 51 line-breaking passes this season yet seeing his elite output undermined by the side's profligacy. Earlier, on 15 October, Hoeneß had hailed a "wonderful" 3-0 win at Bratislava that kept Stuttgart perfect in Europe with six points and two clean sheets.

Having now remained unbeaten through three Champions League fixtures and collected seven points, Stuttgart have demonstrated their ability to compete on the European stage. The challenge is to reproduce that intensity, commitment and attacking enterprise consistently in the Bundesliga.

Immediate test against Gladbach

Stuttgart get an immediate chance to translate the European performance into league progress when Borussia Mönchengladbach visit the MHP-Arena on Friday evening. Hoeneß's players are desperate to show that their encouraging display against Atlético was more than an isolated success.