Stuttgart suffered their first defeat of their Champions League campaign in Istanbul, with Aleksey Batrakov scoring twice in the opening 15 minutes to secure a 2-0 win for Galatasaray.
VfB had made an encouraging start, with Jamie Leweling striking both posts with the same effort after just eight minutes.
The visitors then improved considerably after the interval, and thought they had found a route back into the contest when Chris Führich found the net from range, only for his effort to be ruled out for an offside against Deniz Undav.
Speaking to DAZN after the final whistle, the 28-year-old reflected on a frustrating evening in Istanbul.
"We invested a great deal. We started exactly as we had planned, with a huge chance for Jamie. If that goes in, it's obviously a completely different situation," Führich explained.
"Then we conceded the first goal because we were a little too passive, and suddenly there's an energy here that you have to withstand.
"The second goal came straight afterwards, which was very bitter.
"We recovered quite well. I think we played a good game in the second half, with lots of chances and a few situations we could have played out better. But in the end, we were missing the goal."
The German international was Stuttgart's best player on the night, and was particularly disappointed that his second-half strike was disallowed, believing that it could have provided Die Schwaben with a way back into the contest.
"It's a shame about the offside goal. I think that could have been another turning point, but it wasn't to be.
"We gave everything, put everything into the game, and I think we can still take a lot of positives away from here."
