The announcement on Wednesday afternoon came as a complete surprise to many: Thomas Hitzlsperger will not extend his contract as the CEO at VfB Stuttgart. The former midfielder, who became a champion of Germany with the Swabian team in 2007, will finish in the autumn of 2022. "I'm very grateful for the years together and I will remain emotionally connected to VfB in the future," said the 39-year-old. After taking up his post in 2019, he worked alongside president Claus Vogt, sporting director Sven Mislintat and coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and brought about a significant upturn at Stuttgart that saw the club return from the second division to Germany's top flight. As a newly promoted club, VfB impressed with young players and exciting attacking football and just missed out on qualifying for the Conference League in ninth place. The first two matches of this season also provided goal fests with a 6-0 victory over BFC Dynamo in the DFB Cup and a 5-1 win against SpVgg Greuther Fürth. However, since then there has been a spanner in the works for the Swabians. After two defeats away to Leipzig (0-4) and at home to Freiburg (2-3), Matarazzo's team picked up a point at Frankfurt despite being a man down and the coach categorised the side’s morale after the game as "extremely important." He added: "That can give us a boost in terms of mentality."
The fact VfB are not yet fully up to speed is also due to bad luck with injuries that has affected the Swabians this term. The two shooting stars of last season, winger Silas and centre forward Kalajdzic are currently sidelined – and will probably be out for a long time. While Silas is likely to be out of action until November after suffering a torn cruciate in the spring, Kalajdzic will almost certainly not play again this year after suffering a shoulder injury in Leipzig. And beyond the two stars of the previous season, the VfB attack is also rather weakened at the moment. The 17-year-old striker Mohamed Sankoh suffered a serious knee injury in the first game and has been ruled out for months; for new signing Chris Führich, who has not yet appeared for the club due to a fractured collarbone, the game against the Werkself has also come to early. And Philip Förster is also a doubt for this match due to an infection. The injury list is shorter for the defence but Stuttgart do have one new absentee here: Central defender Waldemar Anton was shown a red card at Frankfurt for a professional foul and is suspended for the match against the Werkself.
Nevertheless: There are also positive announcements in terms of personnel. Midfielder Orel Mangala celebrated his comeback as a substitute at Frankfurt after being out injured for six months and he could be a candidate to start against Bayer 04. And: Omar Marmoush, brought in on loan from VfL Wolfsburg just before the end of the transfer window, impressed in his debut for VfB and he not only scored against Frankfurt to make it 1-1 but he was a constant threat in attack. "You could see he's very good even when he doesn't have much space," praised Matarazzo.
After the serious injuries to Silas and Kalajdzic there is still one high flyer from last season: The Japanese player Wataru Endo is "already" 28 years old but he played his way into the hearts of the VfB fans last season and also came to the attention of people regularly watch Stuttgart matches. Endo wins a lot of possession in defensive midfield, is full of running and also knows how to set up counter-attacks. Together with Mangala, who is now back alongside him, Endo was at the heart of Matarazzo's 3-4-2-1 system last season. Endo, who just missed out on a medal in the Olympic Games at home in Japan in the summer, is now the captain at VfB – and he seems increasingly happy in front of the opposition net: He has scored one goal and provided one assist in the first four matches.
Stuttgart are still missing the balance that marked the team out over long stretches of last season. The team appeared susceptible in defence in the defeats at Leipzig and against Frankfurt with nine goals and a total of 63 shots on goal conceded, that is the fourth highest number after four matches in the Bundesliga. Matarazzo set up his team at Frankfurt in a clearly more defence formation to bring about the necessary stability. That worked – albeit at the cost of the attack, which really never got going; striker Marmoush was often left on his own up front.
VfB have been hit hard by the injuries to a number of key players. The football the Swabians produced over large parts of last season is currently difficult to reproduce. Nevertheless, the squad has enough talent and potential development to be able to do well in the Bundesliga this season – and if Silas and Kalajdzic return to their former strength after their injuries, then VfB could be one of the top teams in the second half of the season.
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For the second time in four days, Bayer 04 face Borussia Dortmund this Tuesday evening, 2 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET) - this time in the round of 16 of the DFB Pokal, with more than 7,000 fans supporting the Werkself at Signal Iduna Park. After the recent 2-1 defeat to BVB in the league, several cup stats provide hope of revenge for the Black and Reds. There are several reasons why Bayer 04 recommends getting to the round of 16 clash early, in which VAR will be in use, unlike in the previous rounds. Read on for further information on tonight’s game in our matchday news.
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Just three days on from the Bundesliga meeting in Leverkusen, Bayer 04 now visit Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal on Tuesday (21:00 CET). Ahead of the game at the Signal Iduna Park, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how to approach this second encounter in 72 hours and a number of developments within the squad.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 12 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
Bayer 04 were beaten 2-1 at home by Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 12 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Although the Werkself had more of the play in the first half, the visitors went ahead through Aaron Anselmino. Karim Adeyemi doubled their advantage after the hour, but Christian Kofane gave Leverkusen late hope, although ultimately to no avail.
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There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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