Despite their domestic woes, Stuttgart have kicked off their European campaign with back-to-back victories, and they clearly enjoyed returning to continental duties here, flying out of the traps against an Atletico side who had won eight of their opening 12 games across all competitions this season.
They needed fewer than 60 seconds to test Jan Oblak for the first time when the Slovenia international pushed Bilal El Khannouss’ shot behind from a corner, and the shot-stopper was required again from the resulting set-piece to get behind Josha Vagnoman’s fierce drive from the edge of the box.
Stuttgart were in no mood to ease off the gas, and threatened again shortly after when Chris Fuhrich fired over. Next up to cause Los Colchoneros problems was Angelo Stiller, who tested Oblak with a volley before directing a low effort wide.
The visitors were stunned by their hosts’ fast start, only managing their first effort in the 18th minute when Marc Pubill headed over. Any sense that Atleti had weathered the storm dissipated when they fell behind as half-time approached.
Jamie Leweling was the scorer, hammering a shot towards goal from just outside the box, with the deflection off Morten Hjulmand helping it beat Oblak between the sticks.
In response, Atleti had their first and only shot on target when David Hancko headed a corner straight into Fabian Bredlow’s hands.
Much like their opponents in the first half, though, Atletico flew out of the blocks after the restart and were soon back on level terms. Julian Alvarez showed all of his class to turn an Ademola Lookman cross into the top corner first time.
That goal swung the game’s momentum, and Atleti looked more likely to prevail, with Pablo Barrios thwarted by Bredlow’s foot.
However, the away side’s progress was stunted midway through the second period when Hjulmand received a straight red card for a high challenge on Stiller.
From that point on, it was close to one-way traffic as Stuttgart pinned Atletico back in their own third. Diego Simeone’s men are known for their resilience, and a body always seemed to be in the way of Die Schwaben’s attempts.
On the rare occasion they weren’t able to produce a block, they were left off by Stuttgart, particularly when Jeff Chabot placed a free header wide of the post from no more than eight yards.
There were further opportunities, most notably when Grischa Promel struck straight at Oblak, but Stuttgart were unable to find the winner they would have been good value for.
They will still be happy to pick up seven points from their opening three league phase matches, while Atletico have four points from their trio of games so far, and their wait for back-to-back clean sheets in this competition for the first time since February 2020 goes on.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Maximilian Mittelstadt (Stuttgart)