VFB STUTTGART 0 CELTA VIGO 0

TIMO HILDEBRAND became the second German keeper to keep his side in the competition, after Georg Koch had done the same for Kaiserslautern, as VfB Stuttgart scrambled a goalless draw with Celta Vigo.

The Bundesliga side go into the second leg with a chance of making the quarter-finals and owe a large part of this to Hildebrand who stopped the potentially explosive Celta attack from igniting.

With Brazilian star Catanha ably supported by Alexander Mostovoi it seemed a question of when not if Celta would score, however, Hildebrand's brilliance kept the visitors out.

Defender Fernando Caceres came closest to breaking the deadlock with a powerful header in the 81st minute that brought out the best in Hildebrand, who threw himself to his left to parry the ball to safety.

Mostovoi was in fine form and was unlucky to see his curling free-kick bounce clear off the bar in the 24th minute.

Stuttgart, who are battling against Bundesliga relegation, showed they were prime candidates for the drop as they were restricted to long-range efforts, creating little infront of goal.

Hungarian star Kriztian Listzes came closest to scoring for the home side but was well kept out by Joao Pinto in the 22nd minute, whilst former Liverpool striker, Sean Dundee had the other meaningful effort saved by the Celta keeper.

In a timid second-half it was Celta that came closest to grabbing a winner and it would appear the Vigo outfit has the best chance of progressing.