Fortuna Düsseldorf
| 1-0 | Kruse | (10. Min) |
| 2-0 | Kruse | (37. Min) |
| 3-1 | Fink | (76. Min) |
VfB Stuttgart
| 2-1 | Gentner | (60. Min) |
Stelios Malezas
Stats 
Tunay Torun in action during the game.
Massive effort but to no avail! Too many unnecessary errors saw VfB slip to a 1-3 (0-2) defeat away to Fortuna Düsseldorf. VfB had the bulk of the possession but made too little of their opportunities, whilst defensive errors were cruelly punished.
With Martin Harnik suspended and Georg Niedermeier out through injury, Bruno Labbadia was forced to alter his starting eleven. Raphael Holzhauser, Tamas Hajnal, Tunay Torun, Gotoku Sakai (returning from suspension) and Felipe Lopes (VfB debut) came in to replace the previously named duo as well as Ibrahima Traoré, Shinji Okazaki and Antonio Rüdiger.
In front of a crowd of 44,153, including some 5,600 VfB fans, Labbadia’s men started well and looked extremely mobile. With just ten minutes on the clock though, it was the majority of the fans in the stadium that were off their feet and celebrating. Following a questionable fee-kick, the ball fell kindly for Robbie Kruse, who slid the ball past Sven Ulriech to make it 1-0.
VfB quickly recovered from the setback, looking to press forward and once again take control of the tie. Just short of the half-hour mark, Stuttgart then had their first real shot on goal, with Christian Gentner’s effort being stopped by Fortuna keeper Fabian Giefer.
VfB deputy captain Christian Gentner: "In the first half we had much more possession but just didn’t do enough with it." Post match comments
78% possession for VfB
With a massive 78% of the possession, VfB were clearly the side with the advantage on the ball, but it was Fortuna who proved more effective from the openings that came their way and in the 37th minute, Robbie Kruse struck again to make it 2-0 to the home side going into the break.
VfB came out for the second period with all guns blazing in search of a way back into the game. Ibrahima Traoré went on a mazy run out left, dodging two defenders before crossing to the centre, where Christian Gentner was perfectly placed to reduce the deficit – 1-2 (60’) and VfB were back in the game!
Diligent Traoré
The game became increasingly entertaining, firstly with Ibrahima Traoré breaking again on the left and leaving three Fortuna players trailing in his wake but this time could find no takers from his cross (63’). At the other end, Sven Ulreich had to go full stretch to save a free-kick from Ken Ilsö (66’).
The home side had little to offer and looked to relieve the pressure with long balls out of defence as Bruno Labbadia’s men forced Fortuna back ever further and it looked as if would only be a matter of time before VfB were back on level terms. It was all to prove very different though and following a miscued pass, Oliver Fink let fly from 25 meters out to increase Dusseldorf’s lead to 3-1 (76’). VfB pushed to the end but there was to be no way back on the day and again Bruno Labbadia’s men were left empty handed.
