A total of 22 outfield players plus four goalkeepers were welcomed back by Peter Bosz (HERE the 56-year-old talks about the start of training sessions) under the eyes of sporting managing director Rudi Völler and sporting director Simon Rolfes at the training ground. The Dutchman had Lars Bender and Co. begin the 75-minute session with classic rondos. That was followed by passing drills, shooting practice and finished with a game on a smaller pitch before Bosz ended the first training just after 19.04.
Absentees were Paulinho, who is out of action for a long time following his torn cruciate, plus the trio of returning loanees Tin Jedvaj (from FC Augsburg), Joel Pohjanpalo (Hamburg SV) and Panos Retsos (Sheffield United). The returnees cannot play in the Europa League; Bosz has given them an extension to their time off.
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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