VfB Stuttgart have been eliminated from the Europa League. After the 2-0 defeat in Porto on Thursday evening, the Swabians had a few regrets, but also acknowledged the performance of one of their opponents without envy.
“We’re playing a great game here, a lot of the things we set out to do worked out,” said Sebastian Hoeneß on RTL after the match. “We had two good chances straight away and it felt like we had the game completely under control. Then suddenly they’re in the box and it’s 1-0. That was quite strange,” said the Stuttgart coach.
The only thing missing was the goals. “We had a lot of crosses in, but we also scored. But then you just have to take your hat off to the opposing goalkeeper, who was simply the absolute best man on the pitch today,” explained the 43-year-old.
Undav praises Diogo Costa: “Not just brutal on the line”
In fact, it was Diogo Costa in particular who was responsible for keeping VfB scoreless at the Estadio do Dragao. Whether with flying saves against Jeff Chabot after less than two minutes, or then equally strong saves twice each against Chris Führich and Deniz Undav and another against Bilal El Khannouss – the Portuguese international goalkeeper saved time and again – whether reflexively or with flying saves.
“He did an outstanding job. He also saved things that you don’t have to save. He’s not just brutal on the line. The balls he plays, the calmness he has, whether it’s English balls, high balls, flat balls, he does that brilliantly. He’s certainly the MVP of the two games,” said Undav, who was recalled to the national team by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, praising the opposing goalkeeper.
Karazor: “I’m proud of the way we’ve gone as a team”
Alexander Nübel also saw his opposite number as the outstanding player on the evening, with the VfB goalkeeper himself having little to hold on to. “It hurts a lot today because we actually played a good game in both matches, but were beaten in the end.”
On the one hand, Atakan Karazor was “proud of the path as a team”, which his team had taken and also underlined with the performance in Porto. On the other hand, however, he was a little concerned that VfB are currently “struggling a bit with luck at the back”, alluding to Porto’s 1-0 lead in the first half, which came almost out of nowhere: “Who are you going to blame? I want to clear, he keeps his foot in. That happens maybe once every 100 times.”
In the end, however, Diogo Costa was the main reason for the defeat, said the VfB captain: “He played outstandingly.”
