In the emotionally charged atmosphere of Galatasaray Istanbul's stadium, VfB Stuttgart suffered their first defeat of this Champions League season.

Against the aggressive hosts, the error-prone Bundesliga side lost in the heated atmosphere of the Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex with a score of 0:2 (0:2). Aleksei Batrakov (12th and 15th minutes) scored both goals for the Turkish serial champions in front of approximately 50,000 spectators.

Just before kickoff, the stadium fell almost completely silent. Following the death of Spanish second-division player Jesús de Miguel from CD Tenerife, both teams observed a minute of silence.

Fifteen minutes later, the Lions' fans had already roared twice, with Batrakov being the goalscorer both times. The spectators in the stadium sang and danced, and even some reporters in the press box raised their arms in celebration.

Chabot makes an error in his 100th competitive match

Stuttgart, who remain on seven points, played a significant role in Istanbul's celebration. For the first goal, a poor clearance attempt by Jeff Chabot, who was playing his 100th competitive match for Stuttgart, landed directly at Batrakov's feet. Goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow, who was given the opportunity to play instead of Dennis Seimen, could not stop the shot that went into the upper corner.

For the second goal, Stuttgart's defense was caught off guard by a long pass from Davinson Sánchez. Batrakov suddenly found himself free in front of Bredlow and shot the ball past the Stuttgart goalkeeper from the right side, threading it between his legs. Stuttgart, where Atakan Karazor received an early yellow card after being kicked on the ankle by Victor Osimhen, could hardly have started worse.

Particularly frustrating for Stuttgart was that Jamie Leweling wasted a great opportunity to take the lead when the score was still 0:0. After a cross from the very active Chris Führich, the winger hit the left post, and the ball bounced off to the right post but did not cross the line. Führich came close to scoring just before halftime, but there were no further chances in the first half against the home defense featuring former Bundesliga players Ismail Jakobs (Cologne FC) and Roland Sallai (SC Freiburg).

Whistles against the songs of Stuttgart fans

Stuttgart manager Sebastian Hoeneß emphasized before the match that a special performance would be required in Istanbul, noting that this needed to be achieved physically, mentally, and tactically. However, Stuttgart struggled to cope with the emotional intensity from the stands. Even the songs of Stuttgart fans, who were positioned in the upper corner of the stadium, were met with piercing whistles from Galatasaray supporters, as were Stuttgart's passing sequences.

Stuttgart left-back Maximilian Mittelstädt, who started in place of Luca Jaquez, had acknowledged before the match that many disruptive factors would come into play both on and off the pitch. The scuffles that erupted following a heated challenge between Baris Yilmaz and Führich, who landed in the technical area after being pushed, provided clear evidence of this. Several players and staff members got involved. In the end, both Yilmaz and Undav, who was the first Stuttgart player to become involved, received yellow cards.

Undav and Führich squander good chances

After halftime, it was Stuttgart's turn to attack, but Führich, Undav, and substitute Dzenan Pejcinovic wasted excellent opportunities. When the ball did eventually end up in the net following Führich's fine finish, Undav was in an offside position from his earlier attempt that hit the crossbar.

Home manager Okan Buruk's side produced almost nothing going forward, bringing on German international Leroy Sané in the 77th minute. Despite this, it was enough for their second victory in the league phase.