RUNNER-UP!
Do you remember your first game at the Neckarstadion? Maybe you were kids back then, walking wide-eyed with your parents down Mercedesstraße to the home ground of VfB Stuttgart from 1893, into that huge stadium. Glorious sunshine, a full house. Do you remember the standings? Probably not, but you knew VfB had to win that day. And in the end, everything was perfect: many goals, overflowing emotions, the perfect day at the stadium. What could be an ideal first stadium experience — mine was actually the botched UEFA Cup qualification with a 3:3 against Bielefeld 24 years ago — was in reality my last visit to the stadium before the new season begins. VfB defeated Gladbach 4:0, each goal more beautiful than the last. The Cannstatter Kurve dazzled with a breathtaking choreography before kickoff. Meanwhile, the reserve team intercepted the Kickers on their way to promotion to the third division, and later Bayern squandered a 2:0 lead and second place. To us! VfB became the runner-up for the third time after 1979 — when they surged up from the second division — and 2003 — when Felix Magath crowned the rebuild after the near-relegation in 2001. Deniz Undav was right after the cup match in Leverkusen: VfB is among the best two German teams.
It is hard to put into words how perfect this 34th matchday of the 2023/2024 Bundesliga season was from VfB’s perspective. Serhou Guirassy expanded his breathtaking tally with two more goals, especially the 1:0, when he and Enzo Millot weaved the ball through Gladbach’s penalty area, showcasing the team’s full class. Alex Nübel shone during Borussia’s pressure phase after the break, and VfB hit the woodwork or tested Gladbach’s goalkeeper multiple times. That Silas, who had already shone against Bayern, provided a calculated assist and then sealed the game with an incredible solo run, is almost too good to be true. What a fantastic team. What a fantastic season, and what a beautiful send-off for physiotherapist Gerry Wörn, who got promoted with VfB to the Bundesliga in 1977 and served the team for a total of 34 years since 1990. And when we praise the players who (hopefully) will stay with VfB, we must also pay tribute to players like Roberto Massimo, Genki Haraguchi, Mahmoud Dahoud, Florian Schock, and Li Egloff, who also played their parts. Especially with Li Egloff, but also with technique coach Nate Weiss, it’s a bit sad to see them go, even though it was foreseeable that Li wouldn’t get a new contract.
73 points!
Topping the 90 minutes of the last matchday was difficult, but the celebrations after the final whistle crowned this dream of a VfB day. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, someone other than the Capos stood on their podium against Bayern, and on Saturday afternoon, the atmospheric epicenter of the Kurve was bursting at the seams. That not only captain Waldemar Anton and top scorer Serhou Guirassy but also Deniz Undav and Alex Nübel, two players who are “only” on loan, found their place up there, shows how much these guys have played, shot, and fought their way into the fans’ hearts. Hearing Nübel, who at some point demanded his well-deserved beer and got it in boot form, or Deniz Undav, who in an interview with VfBtv demanded an apology for not believing his assessment after the cup match (see above), you have to hope that VfB finds a gold mine or an oil well somewhere to keep these two forever.
I am still too emotionally affected by the last match to be able to look back on the entire season, on each of the 73 (!!!) points we won or each of the 78 goals (!!!) we scored. VfB broke so many records this season that it makes you dizzy and had the best Bundesliga season in terms of points in the club’s history. Experiencing this after all the years of misery, bad moods, sorrow, after two relegations and two sometimes arduous second division years, is phenomenal. Since that 3:3 against Bielefeld mentioned above, there have been few games in my fan career that come close to this afternoon. And we still have some beautiful moments ahead of us. And I don’t even mean the Supercup match if Leverkusen wins the double, but the competition whose anthem was played by stadium DJ Jamie Leweling after the match, giving me goosebumps. VfB is back in international play after all the crap, and not just anywhere, but in the Champions League, quoting Sebastian Hoeneß: “Holy shit!”
Unbelievable. What a day. What a season. Let’s savor this moment as long as we can.
Picture: © Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images