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Struggling Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart were stunned 1-0 by second division Greuther Fuerth in the German Cup third round.

Third division VfL Osnabrueck caused another upset when they beat Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund 3-2 to book a spot in the last eight.

The defeat will pile further pressure on embattled rookie coach Markus Babbel whose team lie 14th in the league with only eight points from 10 games and he admits his future is in doubt.

"We now have five straight defeats," he saidafter their 1-0 loss to Fuerth. "This is bitter and a very difficult situation and it is not getting easier.

"I do not know what the club's position is regarding myself."

Bernd Nehrig put Fuerth ahead in the 32nd minute with the hosts' first scoring chance, when he left Arthur Boka and Mathieu Delpierre standing to fire home.

They could have added another on 49 minutes when Sami Allagui found himself in the box with only keeper Jens Lehmann to beat but failed to double the hosts' lead in this one-leg Cup match.

Stuttgart, unable to string together any real attackingmoves, wasted a rare double chance 12 minutes from time when Julian Schieber and Romanian Ciprian Marica were denied from point-blank range by Fuerth keeper Stephan Lobue.

Marica also hit the post three minutes from time and Schieber missed a great chance to equalise from close range in the dying seconds.

Osnabrueck, who eliminated Hamburg on penalties in the last round, took the lead in the 37th with an Angelo Barletta bicycle kick.

The Italian central defender added another three minutes from half-time before Nuri Sahin pulled one back for Dortmund 10 minutes after the restart.

Benjamin Siegert secured Osnabrueck's victory when he netted on a quick break in the 69th minute.

Cologne had little trouble seeing off fourth division Eintracht Trier with a 3-0 win.

Reuters