UCL 2024/25: How Intense Pressing Tactics Decided VfB Stuttgart Vs Atalanta

The UEFA Champions League is known for delivering match-ups of the greatest teams in world club football.

If you want to see English top teams like Manchester City and Spanish top teams like Real Madrid battle it out on the pitch, the competition to claim Europe’s footballing throne is a must-watch for every football fan.

However, there are different matchups that are as interesting, if not more interesting, than these games, and yesterday, we had one of these showdowns in Stuttgart, Germany.

At the end of the 2023/24 campaign, VfB Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League for the first time in over 12 years in dominant fashion.

From the get-go, the team that was mere seconds away from getting relegated in the two seasons prior was dominating the league and getting comfortable in the top positions.

Within just a couple of months, young head coach Sebastian Hoeneß turned around the team with astonishing attacking football.

The team ended up finishing as the runner-up to the invincible Bayer Leverkusen team, ahead of teams like FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.

Their opponent this Wednesday night is Atalanta of Bergamo, the biggest riser in Italian football over the last couple of years.

Ever since Gian Piero Gasperini took over the team, the club has been on the up and managed to break into the top four of Serie A with a clever recruitment strategy and a beautiful style of play.

Their biggest success of these years was beating Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Europa League final in 2024, qualifying themselves for the UEFA Champions League again.

Two teams with limited budgets, great coaches, attractive playing styles, and a philosophy of developing young talent in their squads were facing off in the MHP Arena in Bad Canstatt.

In this tactical and match analysis, we will examine how the game developed, what the teams did well, and how the game was decided in the end.

Formations & Players Used

First, we are going to take a look at what formations and players the coaches used, respectively.

VfB Stuttgart Formation & Lineup

For the home team, Sebastian Hoeneßs formation did not change much for VfB Stuttgart, lining them up in their usual 4-4-2 formation.

Alexander Nübel started in goal with a back four consisting of Mittelstädt, Chase, Rouault, and Vagnoman in front of him.

In midfield, Angelo Stiller and Atakan Karazor formed the usual double pivot, with Führich and Millot flanking them on the left and right sides of the field.

In attack, Atalanta loanee El-Bilal played up front next to star striker and fan-favourite Deniz Undav, with the German international occasionally dropping into attacking midfield.

Atalanta Formation & Lineup

Things were a bit different for Atalanta, with Gasperini using his 3-4-2-1 formation this game.

Carnesecchi started in goal, with Hien, Djimsiti, and Kolasinac forming the back three.

The latter was replaced early by Koussounou after an injury.

Captain Marten de Roon and Éderson played as central midfielders, with Bellanova on the right and Zappacosta on the left wingback.

In Attack, Marko Pasalic and Ademola Lookman were playing as roaming attacking midfielders behind striker Retegui.

Stuttgart‘s Press Dominating The First Half

With both teams playing a dominant style of football, many expected this game to be decided by the teams attacking play.

However, the first half was relatively calm but not slow.

The main reason for this development in the game was the plan both teams had against the ball.

Both teams were very well prepared coming into this game and it showed.

In the first half, Atalanta played a very effective midfield press and defended well in a deep block, preventing Stuttgart from actually creating many chances.

What was the dominating factor in the first half was something different: Stuttgarts attacking press.

Hoeneß had his men play a very similar style of press against Juventus a couple of weeks ago, and it worked out against another Italian team this time, too.

If we examine Stuttgarts actions, we need to examine what happened when Atalanta’s goalkeeper started the build-up for the Italians.

Here, we can see a typical situation in the first half of the game.

Atalanta started the game with slightly more possession, but Stuttgart was still able to control the game with its work in the attacking press.

As we can see, Atala