Sevilla booked their place in the knockout phase despite only drawing 1-1 with Stuttgart at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Draw is enough for Jimenez's men
Sevilla booked their place in the knockout phase despite only drawing 1-1 with Stuttgart at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
The Spaniards have dominated Group G and because of the draw between Unirea and Rangers, in the end a point sufficed for Manolo Jimenez's side.
The home side went ahead on 14 minutes with a wonderfully crafted goal as Luis Fabiano found Jesus Navas' run in the box and he coolly slotted the ball home.
Stuttgart barely had a sight of Sevilla's box, let alone the goal, in the opening 45 minutes - but it was a different story in the second-half.
Markus Babbel's side showed plenty of commitment and they were buoyed when Sevilla were forced to finish the game with ten man as Aldo Duscher limped off, by which point the Spanish side had already utilised their three substitutes.
Leveller
With that Stuttgart pushed on and claimed the point they in the end deserved and it was a fabulous strike from Zdravko Kuzmanovic - whose strike from 25-yards flew into the top-corner, with the help of a slight defelction off team-mate Julian Scieber.
The result ends Sevilla's 100 per cent record but it was enough to guarantee them a place in the knockout stages.
Stuttgart began the previous clash between the two sides well before going on to lose 3-1 at the VfB Arena, and they were quick out of the blocks again and might have taken a third-minute lead if captain Thomas Hitzlsperger had not wasted a four-on-two breakaway with a dreadful pass.
Sevilla striker Arouna Kone was guilty of something similar two minutes later though, as he broke into the area but instead of shooting or picking out Fabiano in the middle, he seemed to be caught between the two options and ended up playing a ball that was neither near the net nor his team-mate.
The home side need not have worried about that wasted opportunity though, as nine minutes later they were ahead thanks to a well-worked move. Ndri Romaric played a ball into Fabiano near the edge of the area, and the Brazilian laid a first-time pass into the path of Navas, who coolly slotted his shot past Jens Lehmann to add to his goal in the first meeting a fortnight ago.
Considering their poor domestic form and lack of points in Group G, that was a huge early blow for Babbel's men but they battled back well and Pavel Pogrebnyak came close with a shot from the edge of the box before Arthur Boka was denied by a good blocking stop by Javi Varas.
The visitors were not looking so secure at the back though, and a number of loose passes put themselves in danger, with one resulting in Lehmann needing to make a good low stop to deny Alvaro Negredo.
Stuttgart were unable to get back on level terms by the break, but they enjoyed
a hugely promising start to what would prove to be a fine second-half display,
with Kuzmanovic seeing his 25-yard shot saved by Varas before Pogrebnyak headed the loose ball against the crossbar.
Sevilla were struggling to create many chances at the other end, with Lehmann dealing comfortably with long-range shots from Romaric and Abdoulay Konko, and it was no more than Stuttgart deserved when they drew level through Kuzmanovic
Picking up a short pass from Pogrebnyak 25 yards out, Kuzmanovic unleashed a right-footed thunderbolt which took a slight deflection off team-mate Julian Schieber before nestling into the top corner of the net.
Both sides continued to push forward for a winner after that, and it was Stuttgart who came closest when Schieber sent an acrobatic volley inches wide after racing onto Elson's cross.
Sevilla survived that let off though and the result, combined with the draw in Romania, makes them the first Spanish side through to the next round, while Stuttgart still have a chance of finishing second.
| Sevilla |
Team Statistics |
VfB Stuttgart |
| 1 |
Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 2 |
Shots off Target |
8 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 4 |
Corners |
4 |
| 19 |
Fouls |
23 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 78.4 |
Passing Success |
82.5 |
| 67 |
Tackles |
52 |
| 56.3 |
Tackles Success |
43.7 |
| 45.1 |
Possession |
54.9 |
| 52.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
47.2 |
|
