VfB v. Rangers | UEFA Champions League | Match Review + Photos + Highlights

In the fifth group game in this season's UEFA Champions League campaign, VfB picked up their first win with a convincing and dominant 2-0 away to Scottish champions Rangers.

Compared to the eleven that started in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Hertha BSC Berlin, trainer Markus Babbel made two changes with Ricardo Osorio and Pavel Pogrebnyak coming into the side in place of Thomas Hitzlsperger and Ciprian Marica.

Right from the start, VfB made it clear that they were determined to take all three points back to Germany. With the exception of a few hopeful attacks from the hosts, the Bundesliga side controlled the game and created a number of chances on goal. With just 16 minutes played, the visitors finally made their breakthrough. Aliaksandr Hleb played a cross towards Pogrebnyak, who was unable to take on the pass but Sebastian Rudy was perfectly placed at the back post to slide in and give Stuttgart a well deserved 1-0 lead. It took until the 33^rd minute before the home side got within shooting distance of Jens Lehmann's goal, but Kris Boyd's efforts failed to really threaten the VfB keeper. There were to be no further genuine efforts on goal in the first period and so, Markus Babbel's men took their lead into the break.

The second period very much mirrored the first half. VfB controlled the game and much of the action was confined to the Rangers half of the pitch. In the 56^th minute, Kuzmanovic twice had shots from distance blocked away and three minutes later at the other end of the pitch, Matthieu Delpierre needed to use all of his strength and cunning to force Kenny Miller off the ball and toe poke back to Jens Lehmann, who was able to clear the danger. Directly on the break, Rudy swung in a wonderful cross from the left which found ‘Kuz' perfectly placed in the centre and the midfield man headed home powerfully to make it 2-0. Pogrebnyak was unlucky not to increase the VfB lead in the 78^th minute as he slammed a shot on the turn against the outside of the post but, in the end, VfB hung on to secure the points and a highly deserved 2-0 win over Rangers.

On December 9^th, VfB will play host to Unirea Urziceni at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in a game which will decide who proceeds to the next round of the Champions League with group leaders Sevilla.

In the post match press conference, Babbel said:

"We played very well tonight. We were aggressive and willing to put in the leg work right from the start. I'm delighted the lads finally managed to reward themselves. We have a real final ahead of us now in Stuttgart. That's exactly what we wanted. From number one to number eleven, and including the players who came on as substitutes, every individual player performed. I'd said to the team before the game that we can't afford to doubt ourselves - I even had to ask myself if I had doubts! No, I know now - I don't doubt!"

VfB Executive Representative of Sport Horst Heldt added:

"We played well and we deserved to win. We have rewarded ourselves with a chance to make the next round. That's the Champions League! I'd like to have a few more points in the Bundesliga though. We did everything that we had to do here today. We really battled and struck with the goals at the right moments."

Jens Lehmann added:

"Yesterday at the press conference I just didn't know if things would work out here but I was hopeful and I had a very good feeling. Rangers were missing two very important players and that's something we need to acknowledge. But we played well and finally got a win."

Finally, goal scorer, and man of the match Sebastian Rudy added:

"The success wasn't just down to me! We put on a fantastic team performance. Markus Babbel has given me a great deal of courage and self-confidence. Of course it's wonderful to have scored a goal. We have to take the positives from this game now and hope we can do exactly the same thing in the Bundesliga."

When asked about his goal, Rudy also added:

"It was fantastic to get my first goal in the Champions League and hopefully it will be the first of many. This was a vital win and sets us up for the final game against Unirea. With home advantage, we are confident of qualifying."