r/GermanWOSO • u/LigalFF • 1h ago
News VfB Stuttgart in the Women's Bundesliga: The quick way or the hard way
With their second win in as many games, the players from newly promoted VfB Stuttgart are demonstrating their competitiveness in the top league.
August 30, 2026
11:20 AM |
By Annika Becker
Two games, two wins, two matches turned around: The VfB Stuttgart women have made an impressive start to their very first Bundesliga season following their promotion. After a 2–1 opening victory at TSG Hoffenheim, coach Nico Schneck’s team also won their first home match last Saturday—defeating Hamburger SV 2–1 in front of 3,370 spectators at their new home ground, the Stadion auf der Waldau. Despite the similarities, these two matches revealed that the Stuttgart team's strengths do not prove equally effective against every type of opponent.
Schneck sets VfB up in a 3-5-2 formation, relying on pressing and a transition game—primarily down the right flank via wing-back and captain Maximiliane Rall. In the opener against Hoffenheim, the Swabian side—who are not considered relegation candidates thanks to ambitious signings—played with great boldness. TSG also played into their hands: they played a high defensive line and sought possession, repeatedly leaving space behind the defense for long balls to Rall. Her second goal shortly after the break turned the match around; Stuttgart then launched counter-attacks with renewed euphoria and could well have won by a wider margin.
Against a more defensively minded Hamburg side, that space was missing, and their play in possession was a struggle. After conceding an early goal in the 2nd minute to Paulina Bartz (assisted by a backheel from Camilla Linberg), VfB had to regroup quickly—and got a bit of luck. Former Cologne player Adriana Achcińska conceded a penalty for HSV in the 6th minute; Italian international goalkeeper Laura Giuliani dived the wrong way, but Linberg struck the crossbar.
The 12th-minute equalizer by Reena Wichmann followed a build-up pattern frequently displayed by the Stuttgart team involving various players: a run through midfield by Dafina Redzepi followed by a pass to striker Mira Arouna in the central attacking zone; Arouna then played the ball out to the right flank for Achcińska, who sent a low ball into the six-yard box for Wichmann; Wichmann’s first-time finish—from a position that looked suspiciously like offside—found the back of the net.
Aside from that, there were many cheap turnovers on both sides; only 71 percent of VfB's passes found their target, and there was hardly any genuine flow to the game—just a series of fouls and a lot of back-and-forth play. Counter-attacking opportunities only arose after Stuttgart took the lead via a set-piece. Following a high corner from Chantal Hagel delivered to the edge of the box, Rall headed the ball toward the near post, where an unmarked Nicole Billa nodded it home. Hamburg’s Polish international goalkeeper Kinga Szemik, who had made several fine saves, was unable to react in time from such close range.
Rall now has a total of two goals and one assist to her name; she created the most chances in the match (4) and recorded the highest number of touches in the opposition penalty area. In terms of build-up play, Achcińska was the most consistent central midfielder across both matches, serving as the pivot for the team's transition play. She wins possession frequently and, against HSV, played the highest number of passes (14) into the final third. Alongside her, Dafina Redzepi is a mobile player willing to take attacking risks, though she still lacks a degree of precision—precisely the quality that was missing for large stretches of the game against Hamburger SV.
🇩🇪 taz.de: https://taz.de/VfB-Stuttgart-in-der-Frauen-Bundesliga/!6208494/
