Europa League run keeping Stuttgart’s season alive
Published:European campaigns can sometimes prove a hindrance on a team’s domestic form, but for Stuttgart this season, it may be their best chance of silverware.
It has been a Jekyll & Hyde campaign for the Germans, as they have significantly underachieved in the opening ten games of the Bundesliga season.
They sit just a point off the foot of the table having winning just two of these fixtures and are already 18 points adrift of table-toppers Borussia Dortmund.
This has all but ended any hopes of winning the title and they are now 100/1 to win the Bundesliga, despite being 16/1 at the start of the campaign.
However, their form has been completely the opposite in Europe, as they have already qualified for the knockout stages of the Europa League with two group games to spare.
Stuttgart have won all four of their fixtures in Group H, scoring nine times in victories over Young Boys, Odense and Getafe to sit six points clear.
One difference has been that Pavel Pogrebnyak and German striker Cacau have often led the line in the league, but have only featured limitedly in Europe.
Ciprian Marica has proved a worthy replacement in the Europa League with two goals in four games, while Martin Harnik has proved a threat in front of goal from the bench.
Stuttgart’s impressive Group H display has seen them positioned at 20/1 to win the Europa League, but things are bound to get tougher after they were placed in one of the easier groups to progress from.
Jens Keller’s team have never won the Europa League before, with their previous best effort coming in 1989 when they lost in the final of the tournament in its previous guise of the UEFA Cup.
Bayer Leverkusen and Dortmund are Germany’s other hopes in the Europa League and are 16/1 and 28/1 respectively to win the competition. See the full Europa League winners betting odds market.
