# 2005–06 VfB Stuttgart season

The 2005–06 VfB Stuttgart season was 41st season in the Bundesliga. The club competed in Bundesliga, UEFA CUP, and the DFB Cup. In the Bundesliga, Stuttgart ended up in ninth place. They were knocked out by Middlesbrough in the first knockout round of the UEFA Cup.
Giovanni Trapattoni came to the club in June 2005, replacing Matthias Sammer, who left the club after one season.
The summer transfer window saw several changes to the squad. Important first-team players such as Kevin Kurányi, Alexander Hleb, and Philipp Lahm were replaced with Jon Dahl Tomasson, Thomas Hitzlsperger, and Ludovic Magnin.
During Trapattoni's 20 games at the helm, Stuttgart produced poor results (5 wins, 12 draws, and 3 losses). Denmark internationals Jon Dahl Tomasson and Jesper Grønkjær openly criticised their coach, claiming he was afraid to attack. Trapattoni immediately responded by dropping both players to the bench. With the atmosphere in the team worsening, he was sacked after just seven months, on 9 February 2006, reportedly for "not fulfilling the ambitions of the club". He was replaced as manager by Armin Veh. His first match was a 2–1 loss against Arminia Bielefeld on matchday 21 of the 2005–06 Bundesliga on 11 February 2006. On 18 April 2006, his contract was extended until summer 2007.

## First-team squad

    Season squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Timo Hildebrand |
| 2 | DF | GER | Andreas Hinkel |
| 3 | DF | AUT | Martin Stranzl |
| 5 | DF | GER | Markus Babbel |
| 6 | DF | POR | Fernando Meira |
| 7 | MF | GER | Silvio Meißner |
| 8 | MF | GER | Daniel Bierofka |
| 10 | FW | DEN | Jon Dahl Tomasson |
| 11 | MF | GER | Thomas Hitzlsperger |
| 12 | DF | GER | Heiko Gerber |
| 13 | MF | GER | Christian Tiffert |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | CRO | Mario Carević |
| 17 | DF | FRA | Matthieu Delpierre |
| 18 | FW | BRA | Cacau |
| 20 | MF | CRO | Zvonimir Soldo (captain) |
| 21 | DF | SUI | Ludovic Magnin |
| 22 | MF | DEN | Jesper Grønkjær |
| 23 | GK | GER | Dirk Heinen |
| 32 | DF | GER | Andreas Beck |
| 33 | FW | GER | Mario Gómez |
| 38 | FW | SRB | Danijel Ljuboja |
| 40 | MF | GER | Christian Gentner |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date | Source |
| 8 | MF | Daniel Bierofka | Bayer Leverkusen | | Summer 2005 | |
| 10 | FW | Jon Dahl Tomasson | AC Milan | | Summer 2005 | CNN |
| 11 | MF | Thomas Hitzlsperger | Aston Villa | Free | Summer 2005 | BBC |
| 14 | MF | Mario Carević | Al Ittihad | | Summer 2005 | UEFA |
| 21 | DF | Ludovic Magnin | Werder Bremen | Free | Summer 2005 | Sky Sports |
| 22 | MF | Jesper Grønkjær | Atletico Madrid | | Summer 2005 | Irish Examiner |
| 38 | FW | Danijel Ljuboja | Paris Saint-Germain | | Summer 2005 | UEFA |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source |
| 8 | MF | Jurica Vranješ | Werder Bremen | Free | Summer 2005 | Sky Sports |
| 10 | MF | Alexander Hleb | Arsenal | | Summer 2005 | Guardian |
| 19 | FW | Imre Szabics | Köln | | Summer 2005 | UEFA |
| 21 | DF | Philipp Lahm | Bayern Munich (Loan return) | N/A | Summer 2005 | UEFA |
| 22 | FW | Kevin Kurányi | Schalke 04 | | Summer 2005 | CNN |
| 3 | DF | Martin Stranzl | Spartak Moscow | | March 2006 | CNN |
| 4 | DF | Boris Živković | Köln (Loan) | | Winter 2006 | |
| 9 | FW | Marco Streller | Köln (Loan) | | Winter 2006 | |
| 15 | MF | Élson | Ponte Preta (Loan) | | Winter 2006 | |
| 16 | MF | Horst Heldt | Retired | | Winter 2006 | |

### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | GER | Timo Hildebrand | 31 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | GER | Dirk Heinen | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | GK | AUT | Michael Langer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | GER | Andreas Hinkel | 26 | 0 | 24+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | AUT | Martin Stranzl | 15 | 0 | 11+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | GER | Markus Babbel | 26 | 0 | 24+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | POR | Fernando Meira | 32 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | GER | Heiko Gerber | 10 | 0 | 7+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | FRA | Mathieu Delpierre | 29 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | SUI | Ludovic Magnin | 25 | 1 | 24+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | GER | Andreas Beck | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 7 | MF | GER | Silvio Meißner | 25 | 2 | 20+5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | GER | Daniel Bierofka | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | GER | Thomas Hitzlsperger | 26 | 2 | 24+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | GER | Christian Tiffert | 28 | 3 | 25+3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | CRO | Mario Carević | 6 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | CRO | Zvonimir Soldo | 31 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | DEN | Jesper Grønkjær | 25 | 0 | 16+9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | MF | GER | Christian Gentner | 23 | 1 | 15+8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 9 | FW | SUI | Marco Streller | 7 | 1 | 3+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | DEN | Jon Dahl Tomasson | 26 | 8 | 25+1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | BRA | Cacau | 20 | 4 | 8+12 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | GER | Mario Gómez | 30 | 6 | 7+23 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | FW | SRB | Danijel Ljuboja | 26 | 8 | 23+3 | 8 | 0 | 0 |

## Competitions
### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 7 | Borussia Dortmund | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 46 |
| 8 | 1. FC Nürnberg | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 49 | 51 | −2 | 44 |
| 9 | VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 43 |
| 10 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 42 | 50 | −8 | 42 |
| 11 | Mainz 05 | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 46 | 47 | −1 | 38 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Cup
#### First round
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Rapid București | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Stuttgart | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 4 | PAOK | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 3 | |
| 5 | Rennes | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 | −9 | 0 | |