Gross delighted as Stuttgart book last 16 berth

Christian Gross admitted he was delighted to begin his tenure as Stuttgart coach with a 3-1 win over Romania’s Unirea Urziceni which sealed his new team’s Champions League last 16 berth.

Although they lie 16th in the Bundesliga, Stuttgart are now amongst the best 16 teams in Europe and are in the draw for the next round having got off to an electric start which left Dan Petrescu-coached Urziceni stunned.

Former Tottenham Hotspur coach Gross only took charge of Stuttgart on Sunday after Markus Babbel was sacked having seen his side win just twice in their last 15 Bundesliga matches.

But Romanian striker Ciprian Marica, Christian Traesch and Russian forward Pavel Pogrebnyak all scored for Stuttgart in the first 11 minutes as the home side effectively ended the contest by racing into a 3-0 lead.

Portuguese winger Antonio Semedo pulled a goal back for the Romania champions almost immediately after the half-time whistle, but it proved to be no more than a consolation goal.

The win sees the Germans leap-frog the Romanians to finish second in Group G behind winners Sevilla.

“I tried to be very goal and result orientated right from the start and I said right away on Sunday that we needed at least two goals,” said Switzerland’s Gross.

“The morale is low on account of our table position, but the Champions League is the best tournament in the world and everyone can show what they are made of in it.

“I told the team before the second half that we start at zero again and we must not conceed a goal which is what we did and that was abysmal.”

But while Stuttgart join Bayern Munich in the draw for the last 16 on December 18, Gross still has his work cut out to get his side out of the Bundesliga’s bottom three having only been offered the job last Saturday.

“I was happy to come to Stuttgart although I am fully aware of how hard it will be,” he admitted.

“I was only asked to take over the job at the weekend.”

Ex-Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who turned 40 last month, admitted he was delighted to see Stuttgart make the knock-out phase before he retires at the end of the season.

“That was a fantastic start and it was great to take a 3-0 lead so quickly,” said Lehmann, who has plenty of Champions League experience from his five years with Premier League club Arsenal.

“We were hot, we were concentrated and we weren’t so nervous.

“It was good motivation to qualify for the best club competition in the world.

“It is a paradox that we are the 16th best side in the Bundesliga and we are also amongst the best 16 teams in Europe.

“Now we have motivation to improve our Bundesliga position.”