VfB Stuttgart continues to have the Champions League in their sights. Their points tally in historical comparison are even more impressive than their third place. The 3-2 win at Wolfsburg on Saturday has boosted Serhou Guirassy’s chances of making the elite European club competition.Fellow striker Deniz Undav already called it “not smart” to keep the goal of the European competition secret at VfB Stuttgart before the last weekend, and indeed, this would be downright absurd considering the table and data The almost-relegated team from last season already has a 17-point lead over seventh place with 30 points still up for grabs, and now, even qualifying “only” for the Europa League would be somewhat of a hidden disappointment in the Stuttgart environment.Sebastian Hoeneß’s VfB Stuttgartpic.twitter.com/bVlFtMS65T— MT (@MT_Analysis) March 1, 2024 With 50 points after 24 matchdays, Stuttgart is having its best season in its long Bundesliga history. The fact that Bayer Leverkusen (64 points) and Bayern (54) are still ahead of Sebastian Hoeness’ team is also a bit unfortunate. In fact, Stuttgart is the best third-placed team in Bundesliga history at this point in the season in terms of wins (16). The 50 points have never been surpassed since the introduction of the three-point system, only reached once: in 2005/06 by Hamburger SV, which was eventually displaced from the second spot by Werder Bremen on the final matchday and thus missed out on the direct Champions League ticket.##NAJAVA_MECA_7919545##Hamburger SV, along with Leverkusen (2009/10, 4th place), is one of only two clubs in the 29 seasons since the introduction of the three-point system with at least 50 points after 24 matchdays that did not become champions or runners-up. So, all of them ended up in the top four. Seven times, 50 points after 24 matchdays would have been enough for the top of the table – including the Stuttgart championship season in 2006/07. Back then, Schalke was first with 49 points, while VfB Stuttgart under then-coach Armin Veh was third with 45.What additionally favours Stuttgart in the fight for their first Champions League participation since 2009/10 is that while Leverkusen had to settle for the Europa League as fourth in 2010, this year, depending on the performance of the remaining German European participants, fifth place could be enough for the Swabians – thanks to the major Champions League reform.
