“We can’t crap our pants,” Deniz Undav had insisted and Stuttgart did not but nor did they beat Europe’s most terrifying, seemingly indestructible team. Because if the striker was right to say that “if you fear Real Madrid because it’s Real Madrid, you needn’t even fly”, if he had his moment, heading the goal that promised an even more memorable night, and if his team carried the fight on their return to the Champions League fifteen years later, the result remained the same. It is one thing not to be overawed, even to outplay, another to actually win against the club that consider this competition their own.
For much an enjoyable night of 37 shots and wide open spaces, Stuttgart were better than their illustrious opponents. Their coach Sebastian Hoeness described this an an “unforgettable” occasion, a “fascinating game with lots of chances” to which they had “contributed”, showing “our courage and our football”. They went to the most emblematic arena of all and went behind to Kylian Mbappé’s first European goal for Madrid. But Undav equalised with twenty minutes remaining, Stuttgart had gone in search of more and they might have got it too.
