Stevens leaves Stuttgart after securing safety

Huub Stevens has left his role as Stuttgart coach after successfully steering the club away from Bundesliga relegation for a second straight season.

The experienced coach had a 10-game spell in charge of Stuttgart last term, and helped them avoid the drop before departing at the end of the campaign.

However, he returned to the Mercedes Benz Arena in November to replace Armin Veh with the club rooted to the bottom of the table after 12 matches.

Stuttgart avoided falling into the second tier by beating Paderborn 2-1 on Saturday, a result that condemned their opponents to the drop.

"Huub has done outstanding work here," Stuttgart sporting director Robin Dutt told the club's official website.

"He not only managed us twice in the league, working with him was great. For this reason alone we owe him a great debt of gratitude."