“Don’t shit your pants”
The journey to the “myth” Real drives VfB Stuttgart crazy
17.09.2024, 07:24
After 15 long years, VfB Stuttgart is returning to the Champions League. And the comeback couldn’t be more spectacular – they’re going to face defending champions Real Madrid. DFB striker Deniz Undav makes some crisp announcements ahead of the duel with the world’s best team.
Superstar Kylian Mbappè threatens with royal class, but the Swabian sky-stormers also want to reach for the stars at the “myth” Real Madrid. “We must not shit our pants,” demanded the usually eloquent national player Deniz Undav before the duel with the “super team” around the French wonder striker and flexed his muscles before take-off as if to prove it: At the security check at the airport, “Machine” Undav proudly showed off his biceps.
“We have to imagine that we can win!” he said. Win? Against the defending champions and record winners? In front of 80,000 passionate Spanish fans in the Bernabeu football temple? If Mbappé has his way, VfB will have no chance of returning to the Champions League stage after 15 long years with two Bundesliga relegations. “I came to Real for these nights,” said the 25-year-old. And for Real’s 16th triumph in the premier class. Club president Florentino Perez had set the “Decimosexta” as the goal the night after the final victory against Dortmund at Wembley.
But for VfB, failure on Tuesday is (9pm on Prime Video and in the live ticker on ntv.de) not an option. “If you’re afraid of Real Madrid because it’s Real Madrid, then you’ll lose,” said Undav. Before the attacker boarded the plane with his colleagues in their new Champions League outfit with beige jackets, sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth assured them: “We’re not going on vacation!” But, as the motto of the European Cup season goes, “we’re going with pride” to a football match that the cheeky VfB wants to win with all its might.
“After all this shit, it’s time to travel”
15,000 VfB fans want to help on site, even though Stuttgart is only entitled to 4,000 tickets. The fans, like the whole club, are excited about the comeback in Europe. “Stuttgart international – after all this shit, we’re off on a journey,” is written on thousands of T-shirts. Everyone sees the fact that this journey begins in the Bernabeu as a gift. “I’m extremely happy,” said coach Sebastian Hoeneß before the “unique” duel with a club “that is simply a myth.”
The coach also doesn’t want to hear anything about a “freestyle” because that would mean “that it doesn’t matter how it ends – that’s not how it is”. If striker Ermedin Demirovic and co. get a chance, “we want to take it”. Unlike the last game in the Champions League, when VfB lost 4-0 to Real’s arch-rivals FC Barcelona in the second leg of the round of 16 in March 2010 – a certain Lionel Messi scored twice.
And this time? Real, said captain Atakan Karazor dryly, is “our ideal opponent”. Perhaps also because the Royal team still have to find their feet after the departure of legend Toni Kroos and got off to a somewhat bumpy start. Coach Carlo Ancelotti complained about “footballing” problems, the midfield was “too static” for him. At least Jude Bellingham reported fit in time and newcomer Mbappé is also feeling “better from game to game”. And Antonio Rüdiger is still cleaning up at the back. “I know what a nasty defender he can be,” said Undav about the DFB defense chief, who is always “on the fence”. Is there a need for special caution? Oh, said Undav, “I don’t have to be too cuddly before kick-off.”