In addition to Volland, Schreck and Bailey, Heiko Herrlich sent six of the remaining pros onto the pitch: Goalkeeper Tomasz Kucz, Lucas Alario, Karim Bellarabi, Dominik Kohr, Mitchell Weiser and Sven Bender. The 29-year-old, who missed yesterday's training session due to a pre-arranged examination of his right ankle at a specialist in Munich, was able to play the whole game. The team also included the U19 players Jan Boller and Ismael Devici.
The team managed by the coaching duo Markus von Ahlen and Iraklis Metaxas was made up of U19 and U17 players. The match was played behind closed doors.
The Werkself need a win in their penultimate match of the season at RB Leipzig on Monday evening (18:00 CEST) to keep their hopes of third place alive until the final day. After Eintracht Frankfurt lost on Saturday, Roberto Pätzold's side can close the gap on their rivals to two points and leave it all to play for next Sunday.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-3 loss at VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 33 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Down to fifth from fourth place despite taking an early lead: in the head-to-head for a Champions League spot, Bayer 04 were 1-0 up at VfB Stuttgart with just a minute played thanks to an Aleix Garcia strike, but ultimately lost 3-1 (2-1) to the more determined hosts. It meant the Swabians leapfrogged the Werkself in the Bundesliga table on the penultimate matchday.
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Today sees Bayer 04 go head-to-head with their next direct rivals in the race for Champions League qualification (kick-off 15:30 CEST). Opponents Stuttgart are currently fifth in the table, level on points with the Werkself but one place below them due to a three-goal inferior goal difference. The Black and Reds' record at Bad Cannstatt tells a clearer story: they've not lost at VfB for over 16 years. One important factor in securing what would be three crucial points away from home is Leverkusen's strength on the counter-attack. Whilst Stuttgart are also extremely dangerous going forward, they will be without their captain. Today’s matchday news.
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