2010–11 VfB Stuttgart season

The 2010–11 VfB Stuttgart season was the 118th season in the club's football history. They competed in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, in which they finished 12th as well as competing in the DFB-Pokal, where they were eliminated in the Round of 16. Following a sixth-place finish in the previous season, they competed in the Europa League, where they were eliminated in the round of 32. It was Stuttgart's 34th consecutive season in the league, since having been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga in 1977.

VfB Stuttgart

2010–11 season
Manager	Christian Gross (until 13 October 2010) Jens Keller (from 13 October 2010 to 12 December 2010) Bruno Labbadia (from 12 December 2010)
Stadium	Mercedes-Benz Arena
Bundesliga	12th
DFB-Pokal	Round of 16
Europa League	Round of 32
← 2009–10 2011–12 →

Season summary

During the previous season, Stuttgart finished 6th in the Bundesliga. As a result, they qualified for the qualification stages of the Europa League.^[1] Stuttgart started the season poorly, and manager Christian Gross was sacked on 13 October, with the club bottom of the league.^[2] Jens Keller was appointed as his replacement on a temporary basis^[2] before Bruno Labbadia was appointed as his permanent replacement on 12 December.^[3] The club were knocked out of the DFB-Pokal in the round of 16 by Bayern Munich,^[4] and were knocked out of the Europa League in the round of 32 by Benfica.^[5] They finished 12th in the Bundesliga on 42 points.^[6]

Players

First-team squad

As of end of season^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Sven Ulreich 2 DF  SUI Philipp Degen (on loan from Liverpool) 3 DF  ITA Cristian Molinaro 5 DF  GER Serdar Tasci 6 DF  GER Georg Niedermeier 7 FW  AUT Martin Harnik[notes 1] 8 MF  SRB Zdravko Kuzmanović[notes 2] 9 FW  ROU Ciprian Marica 11 FW  FRA Johan Audel[notes 3] 12 GK  GER Alexander Stolz 13 MF  GER Timo Gebhart 14 MF  GER Patrick Funk 15 DF  CIV Arthur Boka 17 DF  FRA Matthieu Delpierre 18 FW  GER Cacau[notes 4]

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  GER Christian Gentner 21 DF  NED Khalid Boulahrouz 22 MF  GER Matthias Schwarz 23 GK  GER Marc Ziegler 24 MF  GUI Mamadou Bah 25 MF  BRA Élson 26 MF  GER Daniel Didavi 27 DF  GER Stefano Celozzi 28 MF  HUN Tamás Hajnal (on loan from Borussia Dortmund) 29 FW  RUS Pavel Pogrebnyak 31 FW  JPN Shinji Okazaki 35 DF  GER Christian Träsch 36 FW  GER Sven Schipplock 38 DF  GER Ermin Bičakčić[notes 5]

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  GER Sebastian Rudy (to 1899 Hoffenheim)

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  ITA Mauro Camoranesi[notes 6] (released)

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Bundesliga	22 August 2010	14 May 2011	Matchday 1	12th	34	12	6	16	60	59	+1	035.29
DFB-Pokal	14 August 2010	22 December 2010	First round	Round of 16	3	2	0	1	8	8	+0	066.67
Europa League	29 July 2010	24 February 2011	Third qualifying round	Round of 32	15	7	5	3	25	16	+9	046.67
Total					52	21	11	20	93	83	+10	040.38

Last updated: complete
Source: Competitions

Bundesliga

Main article: 2010–11 Bundesliga

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
10	1. FC Köln	34	13	5	16	47	62	−15	44
11	1899 Hoffenheim	34	11	10	13	50	50	0	43
12	VfB Stuttgart	34	12	6	16	60	59	+1	42
13	Werder Bremen	34	10	11	13	47	61	−14	41
14	Schalke 04	34	11	7	16	38	44	−6	40	Qualification to Europa League play-off round[a]

Source: kicker
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Schalke 04 as winners of the 2010–11 DFB-Pokal qualified for the play-off round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.

DFB-Pokal

Main article: 2010–11 DFB-Pokal

SV Babelsberg v VfB Stuttgart

14 August 2010 (2010-08-14) First round	SV Babelsberg	1–2	VfB Stuttgart	Potsdam
15:30 CEST	Stroh-Engel 4'	Report	Cacau 21', 25'	Stadium: Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Norbert Grudzinski

Chemnitzer FC v VfB Stuttgart

27 October 2010 (2010-10-27) Second round	Chemnitzer FC	1–3 (a.e.t.)	VfB Stuttgart	Chemnitz
20:30 CEST	Förster 73'	Report	Harnik 79', 106', 118'	Stadium: Stadion an der Gellertstraße Attendance: 17,145 Referee: Günter Perl

VfB Stuttgart v Bayern Munich

22 December 2010 (2010-12-22) Round of 16	VfB Stuttgart	3–6	Bayern Munich	Stuttgart
20:30 CET	Pogrebnyak 32', 45+1' Delpierre 77'	Report	Ottl 6' Gómez 8' Klose 52', 86' Müller 81' Ribéry 90+4'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 40,500 Referee: Florian Meyer

UEFA Europa League

Main article: 2010–11 UEFA Europa League

Qualifying stage

Molde v Stuttgart

29 July 2010 (2010-07-29) 3QR, 1L	Molde	2–3	Stuttgart	Molde
18:30 CEST	Moström 65' Hoseth 76'	Report	Rudy 27' Kuzmanović 74' Harnik 82'	Stadium: Aker Stadion Attendance: 3,270 Referee: Bas Nijhuis

Stuttgart v Molde

5 August 2010 (2010-08-05) 3QR, 2L	Stuttgart	2–2 (5–4 agg.)	Molde	Stuttgart
20:30 CEST	Pogrebnyak 55' Gebhart 90+3'	Report	Johansson 41' Rindarøy 49'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Mauro Bergonzi

Slovan Bratislava v Stuttgart

19 August 2010 (2010-08-19) Play-off, 1L	Slovan Bratislava	0–1	Stuttgart	Bratislava[a]
18:45 CEST		Report	Harnik 88'	Stadium: Štadión Pasienky Attendance: 8,120 Referee: Tony Chapron

Stuttgart v Slovan Bratislava

26 August 2010 (2010-08-26) Play-off, 2L	Stuttgart	2–2 (3–2 agg.)	Slovan Bratislava	Stuttgart
20:00 CEST	Gebhart 56' Gentner 64'	Report	Dobrotka 9' Sylvestr 52'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 12,100 Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev

1. Match played at Štadión Pasienky instead of Slovan Bratislava's home stadium Tehelné pole as a result of renovation work

Group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		STU	YB	GET	OB
1	VfB Stuttgart	6	5	0	1	16	6	+10	15	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–0	1–0	5–1
2	Young Boys	6	3	0	3	10	10	0	9			4–2	—	2–0	4–2
3	Getafe	6	2	1	3	4	8	−4	7			0–3	1–0	—	2–1
4	Odense	6	1	1	4	8	14	−6	4			1–2	2–0	1–1	—

Source: Soccerway

Stuttgart v Young Boys

16 September 2010 1	Stuttgart	3–0	Young Boys	Stuttgart
21:05 CEST	Cacau 23' (pen.) Gentner 59' Tasci 90+1'	Report		Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 13,800 Referee: Luca Banti

Odense v Stuttgart

30 September 2010 2	Odense	1–2	Stuttgart	Odense
19:00 CEST	Johansson 78'	Report	Kuzmanović 72' Harnik 86'	Stadium: TRE-FOR Park Attendance: 8,854 Referee: Alexandru Deaconu

Stuttgart v Getafe

21 October 2010 3	Stuttgart	1–0	Getafe	Stuttgart
19:00 CEST	Marica 29'	Report		Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 17,400 Referee: Anastassios Kakos

Getafe v Stuttgart

4 November 2010 4	Getafe	0–3	Stuttgart	Getafe
21:05 CET		Report	Marica 26' Gebhart 64' Harnik 76'	Stadium: Coliseum Alfonso Pérez Attendance: 3,459 Referee: Marijo Strahonja

Young Boys v Stuttgart

1 December 2010 5	Young Boys	4–2	Stuttgart	Bern
19:00 CET	Degen 34' Sutter 78' Mayuka 81', 82'	Report	Pogrebnyak 48' Schipplock 68'	Stadium: Stade de Suisse Attendance: 18,627 Referee: Alon Yefet

Stuttgart v Odense

16 December 2010 6	Stuttgart	5–1	Odense	Stuttgart
21:05 CET	Gebhart 20' Høegh 48' (o.g.) Gentner 65' Møller Christensen 70' (o.g.) Marica 90+3'	Report	Utaka 72'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Terje Hauge

Knockout stage

Benfica v Stuttgart

17 February 2011 (2011-02-17) Round of 32, First leg	Benfica	2–1	Stuttgart	Lisbon
19:00 WET	Cardozo 70' Jara 81'	Report	Harnik 21'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 44,852 Referee: Eric Braamhaar

Stuttgart v Benfica

24 February 2011 (2011-02-24) Round of 32, second leg	Stuttgart	0–2 (1–4 agg.)	Benfica	Stuttgart
21:05 CET		Report	Salvio 31' Cardozo 78'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 25,800 Referee: Mike Dean

Notes

1. Harnik was born in Hamburg, West Germany (now Germany), but also qualified to represent Austria internationally through his father and represented Austria at U-19, U-20, and U-21 level before making his international debut for Austria in August 2007.
2. Kuzmanović was born in Thun, Switzerland, and represented Switzerland at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Serbia in March 2007.
3. Audel was born in Nice, France, but also qualified to represent Martinique internationally and made his international debut for Martinique in 2016.
4. Cacau was born in Santo André, Brazil, but also qualified to represent Germany internationally after gaining citizenship and made his international debut for Germany in May 2009.
5. Bičakčić was born in Zvornik, SFR Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), and represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at U-19 level, but also qualified to represent Germany internationally and represented Germany at U-18 level before making his international debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 2013.
6. Camoranesi was born in Tandil, Argentina, but also qualified for Italian citizenship through his great-grandfather and made his international debut for Italy in February 2003.