2011–12 VfB Stuttgart season

The 2011–12 VfB Stuttgart season was the 119th season in the club's football history. They competed in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, in which they finished 6th as well as competing in the DFB-Pokal, where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals. It was Stuttgart's 35th consecutive season in the league, since having been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga in 1977.

VfB Stuttgart

2011–12 season
Manager	Bruno Labbadia
Bundesliga	6th
DFB-Pokal	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Martin Harnik (17) All: Martin Harnik (17)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

Season summary

Stuttgart finished 6th in Bundesliga, and as a result, qualified for the Europa League. They were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal by Bayern Munich.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season^[1]

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 Sven Ulreich 2 DF   JPN Gōtoku Sakai^[notes 1] (on loan from Albirex Niigata) 3 DF   ITA Cristian Molinaro 4 MF   DEN William Kvist 5 DF   GER Serdar Tasci (captain) 6 DF   GER Georg Niedermeier 7 MF   AUT Martin Harnik^[notes 2] 8 MF   SRB Zdravko Kuzmanović^[notes 3] 9 FW   BIH Vedad Ibišević 11 FW   FRA Johan Audel 13 MF   GER Timo Gebhart 14 DF   MEX Francisco Javier Rodríguez 15 DF   CIV Arthur Boka 16 MF   GUI Ibrahima Traoré^[notes 4] 17 DF   FRA Matthieu Delpierre

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW   GER Cacau^[notes 5] 20 MF   GER Christian Gentner 21 DF   NED Khalid Boulahrouz 22 GK   GER Marc Ziegler 23 FW   GER Julian Schieber 24 MF   GUI Mamadou Bah 26 MF   AUT Raphael Holzhauser 27 DF   GER Stefano Celozzi 28 MF   HUN Tamás Hajnal 30 DF   GER Antonio Rüdiger 31 FW   JPN Shinji Okazaki 34 DF   GER Patrick Bauer 35 GK   GER André Weis 36 MF   GER Christoph Hemlein

Left club during season

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 29 FW   RUS Pavel Pogrebnyak (to Fulham) 30 GK   GER Bernd Leno (to Bayer Leverkusen)

No. Pos. Nation Player 38 DF   BIH Ermin Bičakčić (to Eintracht Braunschweig)

Competitions

Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Bundesliga	6 August 2011	5 May 2012	Matchday 1	8th	34	15	8	11	63	46	+17	044.12
DFB-Pokal	29 July 2011	8 February 2012	First round	Quarter-finals	4	3	0	1	7	4	+3	075.00
Total					38	18	8	12	70	50	+20	047.37

Last updated: complete
Source: Competitions

Bundesliga

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Borussia Mönchengladbach	34	17	9	8	49	24	+25	60	Qualification to Champions League play-off round
5	Bayer Leverkusen	34	15	9	10	52	44	+8	54	Qualification to Europa League group stage^[a]
6	VfB Stuttgart	34	15	8	11	63	46	+17	53	Qualification to Europa League play-off round^[a]
7	Hannover 96	34	12	12	10	41	45	−4	48	Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round^[a]
8	VfL Wolfsburg	34	13	5	16	47	60	−13	44

Source: kicker
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. The 2011–12 DFB-Pokal champions (Borussia Dortmund) and runners-up (Bayern Munich) qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, thus the three Europa League places were distributed through league positions.

DFB-Pokal

Wehen Wiesbaden v VfB Stuttgart

29 July 2011 (2011-07-29) First round	Wehen Wiesbaden	1–2	VfB Stuttgart	Wiesbaden
20:30 CEST	Janjić   28' (pen.)	Report	6' Bičakčić   50' Kuzmanović	Stadium: BRITA-Arena Attendance: 11,600 Referee: Robert Hartmann

VfB Stuttgart v FSV Frankfurt

26 October 2011 (2011-10-26) Second round	VfB Stuttgart	3–0	FSV Frankfurt	Stuttgart
20:30 CEST	Hemlein   4' Cacau   38' Traoré   89'	Report		Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 18,270 Referee: Christian Leicher

VfB Stuttgart v Hamburger SV

21 December 2011 (2011-12-21) Round of 16	VfB Stuttgart	2–1	Hamburger SV	Stuttgart
20:30 CET	Cacau   23', 62'	Report	54' (o.g.) Kvist	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 38,600 Referee: Peter Gagelmann

VfB Stuttgart v Bayern Munich

8 February 2012 (2012-02-08) Quarter-finals	VfB Stuttgart	0–2	Bayern Munich	Stuttgart
20:30 CET		Report	30' Ribéry   46' Gómez	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena Attendance: 57,500 Referee: Florian Meyer

Sources

1. "FootballSquads - VfB Stuttgart - 2011/12". footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 14 June 2020.

Notes

1. Sakai was born in New York City, New York, United States, but was raised in Japan from the age of 2 and represented them at U-20 and U-23 level before making his international debut for Japan in September 2012.
2. Harnik was born in Hamburg, West Germany (now Germany), but also qualified to represent Austria internationally through his father and represented them at U-19, U-20 and U-21 level before making his international debut for Austria in August 2007.
3. Kuzmanović was born in Thun, Switzerland, and represented them at U-21 level, but also qualified to represent Serbia internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Serbia in March 2007.
4. Traoré was born in Villepinte, France, but also qualified to represent Guinea internationally and made his international debut for Guinea in August 2010.
5. Cacau was born in Santo André, Brazil, but acquired German citizenship through residency in 2009 and made his international debut for Germany in May 2009.