Final day win for Stuttgart puts an end to Leipzig European hopes

Beating RB Leipzig for the third time this season, VfB Stuttgart put an end to RB Leipzig’s European hopes as the visitors picked up a 3-2 away win on the final day.

Taking the lead in the 8th minute, it was a perfect start for Leipzig as their search for European football commenced. Xavi Simons opened the scoring after a fantastic 1-2 with Ridle Baku, followed by a lovely backheel to prod the ball past Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.

However, the hosts responded in the 23rd minute when Atakan Karazor found Maximilian Mittelstädt out wide with a lovely switch of play, before the German international clipped a lovely ball for his compatriot Deniz Undav, who had the simple task of heading home from close range.

Just three minutes out from half time, Leipzig took the lead once again through Baku, involved once again in the final third. After Xavi Simons sent a curling effort towards goal, Nübel’s parry fell straight into the path of Baku, who volleyed home with the inside of his right foot.

Following a Bayer Leverkusen equaliser away at Mainz, Die Roten Bullen were now in pole position for Conference League football, before Stuttgart were able to force an equaliser once again in the 57th minute. 

Getting his second assist of the afternoon, Mittelstädt’s corner found the head of the towering Nick Woltemade, who sent a fantastic header towards the top right corner of Peter Gulacsi’s goal. With the scores level, Mainz were back onto pole position ahead of Leipzig.

However, the tables in Mainz continued to swing. As Patrick Schick gave Leverkusen the lead, Mainz went on to bounce back and drag the scores back to 2-2, leaving Die Nullfünfer sitting above Leipzig.

And salt would be rubbed directly into the wounds in the 78th minute, as Ermedin Demirovic gave Stuttgart the lead with a cool and composed finish inside the box after being played through by Deniz Undav.

Yusuff Poulsen sent an overhead kick towards goal in the 82nd minute, forcing Nübel into a save. From the resulting corner, Leipzig believed that they had found an equaliser through Lois Openda; however, a VAR check adjudged that there was a foul inside the box, keeping the score at 3-2 to the visitors.

As Stuttgart saw out the result, they claimed a 3-2 win to keep Die Schwaben in good form ahead of next weekend’s DFB-Pokal final.

However, for Leipzig, Die Roten Bullen have missed out on European football for the first time since their Bundesliga arrival in 2016.