Babbel rewarded by Stuttgart endeavour

VfB Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel deemed the 2-0 aggregate defeat of FC Timişoara "just reward for six months of hard work" as the German club looked forward to returning to the UEFA Champions League group stage after a one-year absence.

'Good performance'
Following a 2-0 first-leg victory in Romania, Stuttgart's progress from the play-off round was never really in doubt as they had the better of the goalless decider last night without making their superior possession and chances count. "I think the team put in a good performance," said Babbel. "They were focused, tight at the back and created several chances. All we needed was a goal. I think this is just reward for six months of hard work."

English wish
"The important thing is that our name is in the hat for the group stage draw," added defender Ludovic Magnin, before being pressed on which teams he would like to face in the last 32: "I'd like to play against an English side because I never have, but as long as we avoid Lyon I'll be happy." The then French champions beat Stuttgart by two clear goals home and away in the 2007/08 edition and were impressive qualifiers from this play-off round, eliminating RSC Anderlecht 8-2.

Individual talent
Meanwhile, Timişoara coach Ioan Sabău was magnanimous in defeat, saying: "I'd like to congratulate Stuttgart on their qualification. I think we saw two well-contested matches but at the end of the day it was clear that Stuttgart had the better individual players, although the difference wasn't huge."