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Sevilla humble Stuttgart at home

VfB Stuttgart's run in the Champions League looked close to over on Tuesday night, after Spanish club Sevilla humbled the Bundesliga side 3-1.

Sevilla humble Stuttgart at home
Photo: DPA

With Unirea Urziceni winning 4-1 at Rangers, Stuttgart are now in the bottom two of Group G and have only two points from three games and face a mountain to climb if they are to survive the group stages.

In contrast, Sevilla have nine points from three games and are virtually assured of progressing after they raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to two headers from French defender Sebastien Squillaci and midfielder Jesus Navas.

Stuttgart pulled a consolation goal back through Brazil’s Elson, but for the Swabian side it was too little, too late.

“We are making too many simple mistakes at the moment,” said Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel. “But today the performance and the result do not fit. However, I am confident, because I have seen a good performance from us here today.”

Sevilla took the lead against the run of play when their Brazilian midfielder Adriano swung in a cross and Squillaci netted, looping his header over diving Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann on 23 minutes.

It was extremely harsh luck for Stuttgart whose Belarusian play-maker Alexander Hleb had been causing havoc in the Spanish defence and the Germans had enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges.

Stuttgart’s Brazil striker Cacau fired straight at the goalkeeper with an earlier effort while Serbian midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic scored only to have his effort ruled offside.

Sevilla made sure of the three points when Argentina midfielder Diego Perotti beat the defence and chipped in a cross which Lehmann failed to gather and midfielder Jesus Navas fired home from close range on 55 minutes.

Squillaci scored with a header when Serbia midfielder Ivica Dragutinovic curled in a free-kick and with a hint of offside the Frenchman beat Lehmann for the second time on 72 minutes.

Stuttgart pulled a deserved goal back when Elson curled in a direct free-kick on 74 minutes from 25 metres out.

But it was no more than mere consolation as the Spaniards left Germany with another three points under their belt.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

https://twitter.com/GravesenFumado/status/1764242481984491822

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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