Cup victory for VfB more than just a title
Fourth success in the seventh attempt. Stuttgart celebrates the cup victory, which is more than just a title. A commentary by kicker reporter George Moissidis.
VfB Stuttgart is the 2025 DFB Cup winner and thus qualified for the Europa League. IMAGO/Revierfoto
For VfB, the cup victory is a full spoonful of sugar against the bitter substances that this season has repeatedly brought to the 2024 runners-up.
At the end of ten months that began with deliberate humility because it was clear that the departed key players such as top scorer Serhou Guirassy , defensive leader Waldemar Anton and his teammate Hiroki Ito could not be fully or easily replaced. Because the new squad would need time to integrate the new arrivals. Time for coach Sebastian Hoeneß to implement a new style of play and build new leadership structures. To do this, the not unjustly increased expectations and public attention in and around the club had to be channeled and the unfamiliar triple or quadruple workload of Bundesliga, Cup, Champions League and, at times, national team duties had to be mastered.
The conditions for this were more than met, however. The squad was expanded, with around 66 million euros coming in and around 75 going out. Several contracts were extended (at great expense). All of this to continue the positive development. And certainly not to have to settle for 9th place in the league. The traditional club, which picked up an impressive 73 points and the runner-up title in the 2023/24 season and boasts a dozen national and international players, was not praised to the skies without reason. A new star. A major thorn in the side of the usual elite teams like Bayern, Leverkusen, Dortmund, and Leipzig.
Fallen from nothing into nothingWhat happened up until February was quite satisfactory. Despite the pressure and various fluctuations in performance, they picked up a respectable ten points in the Champions League. They just missed the knockout phase. In the league, however, they were on track with fourth place. Only to fall from nowhere into nothing. The Porsche and Mercedes club VfB in small-car mode: with errors in every aspect.
Initially, this was combined with weak performances, later with acceptable but still unsuccessful ones. At times, the team and some of the players seemed overplayed and complacent. Six consecutive home defeats, including goals conceded in the final minutes, cost them a better position. Probably also the possibility of another qualification for the Champions League. Curiously, they didn't allow themselves such lapses in the cup, either in the quarterfinals or the semifinals.
Cup victory overshadows everythingAnd not in the final either. Even if, in the feeling of a clear victory, the team showed the pimply face of self-indulgence and recklessness that cost them many points in the league and made the final stages of the final exciting again. The cup victory, the first title since the 2007 championship, overshadows everything and turns a partially satisfactory season into a good one.
The resulting renewed qualification for international competition offers VfB the opportunity to take the next step in its development, with the aim of continuing to establish itself in the top third of the league. This is necessary given the high level of investment and the ever-present ambitions and expectations.
