The 2-0 defeat at home to Hertha Berlin is done and dusted. After a two-day break from training, head coach Heiko Herrlich held a double session for his players on Tuesday – the Werkself were greeted by cool temperatures and sunshine in both the morning and afternoon work-outs.
In addition to the skipper Lars Bender, who faces three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a muscle injury in the Cup game against Werder Bremen, Marlon Frey was also absent on Tuesday. The 21-year-old midfielder has has a thyroid problem that requires further investigation.
The afternoon session saw 14 outfield players take part – Dominik Kohr, Jonathan Tah and Sven Bender had individual sessions in the Werkstatt.
Ahead of Saturday's clash with HSV, Herrlich and his players have an open session tomorrow. It is set to start at 10.30 CET, Bayer 04 TV will provide a live stream from the training ground from 11.15 CET (on Facebook). The training sessions on Thursday and Friday will be held 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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