Stuttgart hopes of last 16 spot takes blow in defeat to Roma

VfB Stuttgart's goal of qualifying directly to the Europa League last 16 became a bit more difficult after a 2-0 defeat at Roma on Thursday.

Niccolò Pisilli scored his first goal of the season to break the deadlock for Roma in the 40th.

Matias Soulé's through ball broke through the Stuttgart defence and Pisilli ran onto it before firing high across goalkeeper Alexander Nübel.

Pisilli crowned his performance with a second goal, finishing off Paulo Dybala's assist into the net to put the game to bed in stoppage time.

Roma had a second hero in goalkeeper Mile Svilar, who several times denied Stuttgart, including an impressive close-range stop to deny Ermedin Demirovic in the 79th.

The Italians are sixth and need a win in the final matchday of the league phase to advance to the last 16.

Stuttgart, meanwhile, started the day in ninth but dropped to 12th. They are two points behind Real Betis, the last team in the direct qualification zone to the last 16.

In case the Germans fail to book a spot in the knock-outs, they are at least sure of a place in the play-offs.

"Disappointed, annoying, sad with the chances we didn't take. You can waste chances, but in a game like this you have to take them," Stuttgart forward Jamie Leweling told broadcaster RTL.

Asked about the goals for the last league phase game next Thursday, he said: "Home win. Home win against Young Boys. Anything else doesn't count."

Meanwhile, Freiburg continued their unbeaten run in the Europa League and are on the verge of securing a spot in the last 16 with a late 1-0 win against Maccabi Tel-Aviv.

The breakthrough came only in the 82nd minute. Christian Günter provided a beautiful cross to the box and Igor Matanović powered a header into the net.

Freiburg would have sealed the qualification to the last 16, if Porto hadn't scored a late equalizer against Viktoria Plzen for a 1-1 draw.

Due to that result, Freiburg can still mathematically be knocked out of the top eight.

The match had a massive police presence, with more than 2,000 officers deployed for the game to prevent possible anti-Semitic incidents.

Maccabi are the most popular club in Israel and their fans have been the target of anti-Semitism, but they also have made headlines with racist and anti-Arab slogans.

Several Freiburg ultra groups didn't attend the match because they felt their fan culture freedom was being restricted. Many other seats also remained empty, which had a noticeable effect on the atmosphere in the stadium.

"It wasn't an easy game due to the circumstances and also because of the opposition. There was a big risk of underestimating them. You could see that the team wasn't taking it lightly," Freiburg coach Julian Schuster said.

"It was important for me today to have life on the pitch and on the bench. You could feel a lot of support there. And also from the fans: that was really positive, thank you very much for that. And in the end, we deserved to get three points," he added.