2008–09 VfB Stuttgart season

During the 2008–09 VfB Stuttgart season, the club was a genuine contender for the Bundesliga title, losing out only to VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich and finishing in third position. Striker Mario Gómez scored 24 goals in the Bundesliga campaign, only to then make a shock switch to rivals Bayern for the highest-received transfer fee in the club's history.

VfB Stuttgart

2008–09 season
Manager	Markus Babbel
Bundesliga	3rd
UEFA Cup	Last 32
DFB-Pokal	Last 16
Top goalscorer	Mario Gómez (24)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Jens Lehmann
• Alexander Stolz
• Sven Ulreich

Defenders

• Mathieu Delpierre
• Arthur Boka
• Serdar Tasci
• Khalid Boulahrouz
• Ricardo Osorio
• Georg Niedermeier
• Marijan Kovačević

Midfielders

• Ludovic Magnin
• Élson
• Thomas Hitzlsperger
• Roberto Hilbert
• Sami Khedira
• Martin Lanig
• Christian Träsch
• Yıldıray Baştürk
• Georges Mandjeck
• Timo Gebhart
• Sebastian Rudy
• Jan Šimák
• Pável Pardo

Attackers

• Mario Gómez
• Cacau
• Ciprian Marica
• Danijel Ljuboja
• Julian Schieber

Bundesliga

Matches

• Mönchengladbach-Stuttgart 1–3
• 0–1 Thomas Hitzlsperger (15)
• 0–2 Ciprian Marica (26)
• 0–3 Mario Gómez (44)
• 1–3 Rob Friend (60)
• Stuttgart-Bayer Leverkusen 0–2
• 0–1 Patrick Helmes (35)
• 0–2 Theofanis Gekas (78)
• Stuttgart-Hannover 2–0
• 1–0 Mario Gómez (18)
• 2–0 Pável Pardo (40)
• Hoffenheim-Stuttgart 0–0
• Stuttgart-Karlsruhe 3–1
• 0–1 Sebastian Freis (8)
• 1–1 Sami Khedira (22)
• 2–1 Mario Gómez (68)
• 3–1 Ciprian Marica (87)
• Borussia Dortmund-Stuttgart 3–0
• 1–0 Tamás Hajnal (10)
• 2–0 Felipe Santana (19)
• 3–0 Alexander Frei (73)
• Stuttgart-Werder Bremen 4–1
• 1–0 Sami Khedira (18)
• 2–0 Christian Träsch (29)
• 3–0 Roberto Hilbert (63)
• 3–1 Diego (65)
• 4–1 Martin Lanig (88)
• Hertha Berlin-Stuttgart 2–1
• 1–0 Maximilian Nicu (30)
• 1–1 Cacau (51)
• 2–1 Gojko Kačar (87)
• Stuttgart-Bochum 2–0
• 1–0 Mario Gómez (80)
• 2–0 Mario Gómez (83)
• Hamburg-Stuttgart 2–0
• 1–0 Piotr Trochowski (17)
• 2–0 Joris Mathijsen (74)
• Stuttgart-Köln 1–3
• 0–1 Milivoje Novakovič (3)
• 0–2 Milivoje Novakovič (61)
• 1–2 Roberto Hilbert (69)
• 1–3 Petit (90)
• Eintracht Frankfurt-Stuttgart 2–2
• 1–0 Nikos Liberopoulos (18)
• 2–0 Nikos Liberopoulos (66)
• 2–1 Martin Lanig (71)
• 2–2 Mario Gómez (87)
• Stuttgart-Arminia Bielefeld 0–0
• Wolfsburg-Stuttgart 4–1
• 0–1 Martin Lanig (17)
• 1–1 Grafite (51)
• 2–1 Grafite (76)
• 3–1 Edin Džeko (79)
• 4–1 Edin Džeko (85)
• Stuttgart-Schalke 04 2–0
• 1–0 Jan Šimák (79)
• 2–0 Mario Gómez (83)
• Energie Cottbus-Stuttgart 0–3
• 0–1 Roberto Hilbert (4)
• 0–2 Jan Šimák (63)
• 0–3 Sami Khedira (68)
• Stuttgart-Bayern Munich 2–2
• 1–0 Sami Khedira (45)
• 1–1 Tim Borowski (48)
• 1–2 Luca Toni (66)
• 2–2 Sami Khedira (90)
• Stuttgart-Mönchengladbach 2–0
• 1–0 Ciprian Marica (67)
• 2–0 Mario Gómez (86)
• Bayer Leverkusen-Stuttgart 2–4
• 0–1 Mario Gómez (3)
• 0–2 Thomas Hitzlsperger (51)
• 1–2 Stefan Kießling (67)
• 1–3 Mario Gómez (75)
• 1–4 Lukas Sinkiewicz (90 og)
• 2–4 Angelos Charisteas (90)
• Hannover-Stuttgart 3–3
• 0–1 Mario Gómez (7)
• 0–2 Martin Lanig (22)
• 1–2 Jiří Štajner (43)
• 2–2 Jacek Krzynówek (45)
• 3–2 Mikael Forssell (85)
• 3–3 Thomas Hitzlsperger (87)
• Stuttgart-Hoffenheim 3–3
• 0–1 Demba Ba (24)
• 1–1 Cacau (26)
• 2–1 Mario Gómez (31)
• 2–2 Demba Ba (45)
• 3–2 Mario Gómez (63)
• 3–3 Demba Ba (67)
• Karlsruhe-Stuttgart 0–2
• 0–1 Élson (50)
• 0–2 Sami Khedira (88)
• Stuttgart-Borussia Dortmund 2–1
• 1–0 Élson (10)
• 1–1 Nelson Valdez (52)
• 2–1 Mario Gómez (62)
• Werder Bremen-Stuttgart 4–0
• 1–0 Diego (34)
• 2–0 Claudio Pizarro (53)
• 3–0 Markus Rosenberg (59)
• 4–0 Markus Rosenberg (74)
• Stuttgart-Hertha Berlin 2–0
• 1–0 Cacau (47)
• 2–0 Sami Khedira (51)
• Bochum-Stuttgart 1–2
• 1–0 Joël Epalle (48)
• 1–1 Cacau (58)
• 1–2 Serdar Tasci (89)
• Stuttgart-Hamburg 1–0
• 1–0 Mario Gómez (90)
• Köln-Stuttgart 0–3
• 0–1 Mario Gómez (16)
• 0–2 Mario Gómez (55)
• 0–3 Mario Gómez (71)
• Stuttgart-Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0
• 1–0 Cacau (33)
• 2–0 Mario Gómez (48)
• Arminia Bielefeld-Stuttgart 2–2
• 0–1 Matthieu Delpierre (4)
• 1–1 Christopher Katongo (30)
• 1–2 Thomas Hitzlsperger (35)
• 2–2 Vlad Munteanu (68)
• Stuttgart-Wolfsburg 4–1
• 1–0 Mario Gómez (1)
• 2–0 Mario Gómez (20)
• 2–1 Edin Džeko (36)
• 3–1 Mario Gómez (63)
• 4–1 Mario Gómez (77)
• Schalke 04-Stuttgart 1–2
• 0–1 Cacau (15)
• 1–1 Ivan Rakitić (39)
• 1–2 Ciprian Marica (57)
• Stuttgart-Energie Cottbus 2–0
• 1–0 Thomas Hitzlsperger (19)
• 2–0 Cacau (78)
• Bayern Munich-Stuttgart 2–1
• 1–0 Khalid Boulahrouz (15 og)
• 2–0 Mark van Bommel (60)
• 2–1 Mario Gómez (63)

Topscorers

• Mario Gómez 24
• Cacau 7
• Thomas Hitzlsperger 5
• Sami Khedira 5
• Ciprian Marica 4

Reserve team

VfB Stuttgart II were coached by Rainer Adrion and finished 11th in the 3. Liga.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GER Timo Hammel 2 DF  GER Tobias Feisthammel 3 DF  GER Joachim Schwabe 4 DF  GER David Pisot 5 DF  CRO Marijan Kovacevic 6 MF  GER Christian Träsch 7 FW  GER Nico Klotz 8 MF  GER Martin Dausch 9 MF  GER Sebastian Hofmann 10 MF  GER José-Alex Ikeng (to January) 10 MF  GER Markus Pazurek (from January) 13 FW  GER Johannes Rahn 15 MF  GER Daniel Didavi 16 MF  GER Sebastian Rudy 11 MF  GER Michael Klauß 14 MF  GER Patrick Funk

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  GER Jeremy Karikari 18 DF  GER Robin Schuster 19 FW  GER Julian Schieber 20 MF  GER Andreas Hindelang 21 DF  CRO Dubravko Kolinger 22 FW  GER Sven Schipplock 23 DF  GER Sebastian Enderle 24 GK  GER Sven Ulreich 25 FW  ALB Shaban Ismaili 26 DF  GER Sven Schimmel 27 MF  AUT Clemens Walch 28 MF  GER Boris Vukčević 30 FW  GER Manuel Fischer (to January) 31 GK  GER Marcel Schmid 42 DF  GER Marco Pischorn

References