Deniz Undav, who scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday night in VfB Stuttgart’s UEFA Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava, stated his happiness over being able to put his dry spell in front of goal to an end.

“Of course it’s liberating,” he told DAZN . “It’s always nice to score after a dry spell of seven or eight games. That feels good.”

Undav scored the first goal in the 29th minute, with his side winning 3-0 on the night to earn Stuttgart successive wins in the competition, placing them fourth in the standings.

The 30-year-old striker has come under criticism in recent weeks for his lack of goals. He wasn’t included in Jürgen Klopp’s expanded German national team squad for the UEFA Nations League games during the last international break.

The goal also sets a new record. According to Opta , since the start of the 2025/26 season, Undav has recorded the highest total goal involvements (12) in the European competition (four goals, eight assists), which is more than any other German player.

Despite the personal landmark, Undav chose to mainly focus on the team . “The win is even more important. I’m a team player more than anything else. We had a lot of good periods and were able to play a lot of precise balls into forward positions, just as we’d planned. We deserve the win. We also weathered the storm when Bratislava were creating chances. I’m all the more pleased that we managed to keep another clean sheet,” Undav added.

From a tactical formation and squad depth perspective, "VfB Stuttgart’s Deniz Undav relieved to score his first goal of the season" carries substantial tournament implications for international seeding and domestic campaign momentum. Coaching staffs are heavily weighing high-pressing efficiency (PPDA), defensive transition pace, and fixture fatigue management.

Tactical analysts monitoring Champions League metrics emphasize that squad adaptability and set-piece execution will likely dictate outcomes in high-leverage knockout environments. Real-time match telemetry and tracking data continue to inform managerial decision-making.

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