VfB Stuttgart stay perfect in Europe as Deniz Undav ends drought

VfB Stuttgart made it two wins from two in the Champions League with a 3-0 victory at Slovan Bratislava, and the biggest detail for them was Deniz Undav finally getting his first goal of the season. He opened the scoring in the 29th minute, Stuttgart led 1-0 at half-time, and the away side finished the job comfortably after the break in Slovan Bratislava vs VfB Stuttgart.

Undav's goal set the tone

Undav's finish mattered because Stuttgart had already been getting plenty from him in Europe without that goal arriving. He came into this trip with 2 Champions League assists in 2 appearances, and now has 1 goal and 2 assists in the competition this season.

That is a pretty healthy return for a player who had been waiting to end his drought, and it fits the wider feel of Stuttgart's night. They were in control once Undav put them ahead, rather than chasing the game or surviving it.

The scoreline was then pushed further in Stuttgart's favour when Sandro Cruz turned the ball into his own net in the 65th minute. By the time Ermedin Demirović added the third in the 90th minute, the game had already gone where Stuttgart wanted it.

Stiller and Stuttgart's depth stood out again

Angelo Stiller deserves a share of the attention even without a goal next to his name here. He now has 2 assists in 2 Champions League appearances, which tells you plenty about where Stuttgart's control and chance creation are coming from in these early European matches.

There is a broader point here too. Sebastian Hoeneß made five changes to his starting eleven, but Stuttgart still looked settled enough to manage an away game cleanly. Speaking to SPORT1, in comments translated from German, Hoeneß said: "Dennis comes back from a four-month injury."

The quote came in the context of selection and rotation, and Stuttgart's performance backed up the idea that the changes were about squad management rather than any loss of structure. They had already opened their campaign with a 3-1 win over Viking, and this was another away result handled with far less fuss than a 3-0 European trip can sometimes suggest.

Undav will take most of the headline because goals do that, and fairly so. But Stuttgart also got another reminder that they can rotate, lean on Stiller's creativity and still come away with a clean, clear result. On 14 October, that left them with a perfect start after back-to-back Champions League wins.