First time around - after dispatching Copenhagen 3-2 in the qualifying stages thanks to a last gasp Shota Arveladze striker - we faced Stuttgart along with Manchester United and Panathinakos in the group stages at a time of major upheaval for Rangers. Still, there was no embarrassment on our part against the Germans, particularly at Ibrox. Goals from Christian Nerlinger and a stunner from Peter Lovenkrands resulted in Rangers coming from behind to win three crucial points on Match Day One. We travelled to Stuttgart with 4 points from our first 4 games and requiring something to keep alive hopes of finishing 3rd in the group. It was not to be, as a goal from Wenzel just before half time was a blow from which we could not recover. A 3-1 reverseat home to Panathinaikos ensured Rangers exited Europe completely.
In 2007/2008 after negotiating tricky qualification ties with Zeta and Crvena Zvezda we again found ourselves paired with Stuttgart; although this time we had the small matter of Barcelona and Lyon for company. Who can forget the game at Ibrox where we again came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory? This game will be remembered for a trademark marauding Alan Hutton run to set up Charlie Adam for an exquisite right footed goal which nestled in the Stuttgart top corner. A Jean-Claude Darcheville penalty ensured we again got 3 points from our first Champions League game. We travelled to Stuttgart with 7 points from our first 4 games, requiring two points from our last 2 games to ensure qualification for the last 16 for the second time in three years. Goals from Cacau, Pardo and a late Ciprian Marica strike ensured victory for the Germans despite Charlie Adam and Barry Ferguson levelling the game on two occasions.
As is well documented, a 3-0 defeat to Lyon in the final group game of this season meant Rangers tumbled into the Uefa Cup Final. Still, we didn't do badly there did we?
To the present day and Stuttgart, while arguably not the force they were a couple of years ago, still pose a great thread. Finishing 3rd in an incredibly tight Bundesliga last year they have added to their team this summer by securing Aliaksander Hleb (on loan for a year) and Pavel Pogrebnyak from Barcelona and Zenit St Petersburg respectively.
Barring those two, notable players in the Stuttgart ranks include Jens Lehmann, Khalid Boulahrouz, Yildiray Basturk, Thomas Hitzelsperger along with Brazilians Cacau and Elson.
One noteable absentee is Mario Gomez who was transferred to Bayern Munich in the summer for between 30 and 35 million Euros.
Some of these names will be familiar to English football fans and Yildiray Basturk should be familiar to us all given we were linked with a move for him a few years back.
They have started slowly in this year's Bundesliga, cultivating 4 points from 3 matches against Wolfsburg (0-2), Freiburg (4-2) and Borussia Dortmund (1-1)
When you consider the teams we could have drawn from Pot 3 - Bordeaux, Marseille and Fiorentina - and the fact that being paired with Stuttgart resulted in us avoiding VFL Wolfsburg (and thus drastically increasing our chances of European football after Christmas) then this should be considered a very reasonable draw and one which we should ultimately be pleased with.