
"Although there was nothing more to play for, we didn't want to ease off," said Schmidt before continuing: "My team was full of enthusiasm for the game and they scored some great goals."
Boosted by that victory, the Werkself will be looking to make up ground in the Bundesliga away to Schalke on Sunday (17.30 CET). "For me, it's one of the most attractive away games," said Schmidt before recalling two good matches in Gelsenkirchen in the past two seasons. In April of this year, his team won 3-2 and in 2015 Karim Bellarabi scored the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win at Schalke.
Hunting for points
"It'll be another good game of football on Saturday," promised Schmidt before adding: "We want to get a result." Results have been a big disappointment in recent weeks. "We're on track, we’ve played lots of good games after the match at Lotte – however with differing results," said Schmidt. That should all change now.
"We have to concentrate on the next game and if we go on a run then the table will look different," said Schmidt. At the moment, his team is ninth in the Bundesliga on 17 points – level with eighth-placed Schalke.


Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen has gained a new partner in digital gaming platform Crown Coins, which joins the Bundesliga runners-up's Sponsors Club with immediate effect. The one-and-a-half-year contract runs until 30 June 2027.
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The Werkself host VfB Stuttgart this evening (10 January, 18:30 CET), a side whose recent Bundesliga form has been indifferent but who have regularly produced top performances in the DFB Pokal and UEFA Europa League, and who have a key player back in the squad in striker Ermedin Demirovic. Off the pitch, the BayArena faithful will be able to see the remaining stoppage time live on the video screens. The Matchday News.
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The Werkself face a tough challenge in the first game of 2026 when VfB Stuttgart visit the BayArena on Saturday, 10 January (kick-off: 18:30 CET). Ahead of the top-of-the-table clash, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about his impressions of training this week, anticipation of the start of the new calendar year and the personnel situation.
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