Demirović Hat-Trick Books Stuttgart's Date With Real Madrid

Ermedin Demirović's Champions League hat-trick sent VfB Stuttgart through to a tie against Real Madrid, the Bundesliga's official website confirmed on Wednesday, and the striker's record-setting night hands the Stuttgart coaching staff a fresh selection question.

Demirović Hat-Trick Books Stuttgart's Date With Real Madrid

Ermedin Demirović's Champions League hat-trick sent VfB Stuttgart through to a tie against Real Madrid, the Bundesliga's official website confirmed on Wednesday. The striker's record-setting night hands the Stuttgart coaching staff a fresh selection question, with the next round of the competition already in view.

Three goals in a single Champions League outing is the form line that pressures a coaching staff to weigh European output against established selection, and Stuttgart's squad depth means the decision is not academic. The club are not short on options in attack, and a treble at this level of European competition narrows the conversation about who leads the line. The Bundesliga's official site calls the result a 'glamour tie', and the Stuttgart staff must now turn to a selection debate that will not wait for the next round of the competition.

Reporting on the match describes the competition for attacking positions as 'stiff' and characterises Demirović's display as one that 'places him firmly in the conversation for a starting role.' The same reporting frames the night as one that 'puts pressure on the coaching staff to weigh form against established selection' and notes Stuttgart's European campaign 'gains momentum' off the back of the result, with the next round of the competition already in view.

That momentum now points at Real Madrid — the competition's glamour tie. The hat-trick is the form line the Stuttgart staff will weigh against every established option in attack, and Demirović has the shortest runway in which to make the case count. The decision is not one the staff can defer.