Matchday news ahead of Supercup: Top match to kick off the season

#B04VfB – match facts

Bayer 04 have only lost one of the last 26 games against VfB Stuttgart. The two teams have met 90 times before with today's game the first in the Supercup.

The Supercup final is normally played between the champions of Germany and the DFB Pokal winners from the previous season. As the team led by Xabi Alonso won both competitions last term, VfB Stuttgart provide the opposition as the league runners-up. The previous 24 Supercup finals have been won by the champions of Germany 15 times and nine times by the respective opponents. Bayer 04 took part as Pokal winners in 1993/94 but lost 7-6 on penalties against Werder Bremen. The year before, VfB Stuttgart as German champions beat Hannover 96 3-1 in their only previous appearance in the Supercup.

If the scores are level at full-time at the BayArena then the match will go straight to a penalty shoot-out to decide the winners.

Further information on today's Supercup final can be found HERE.

focus on VfB stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart have had a very successful pre-season. The team under head coach Sebastian Hoeneß drew one friendly and won all the other five played. The last was a 4-0 victory over the Copa del Rey winners and Europa League participants Athletic Bilbao. Although several key players were missing against the Basque side, the Swabians could – as was the case last season – be an equally tricky as well as attractive opponent for the Black and Reds. Even with the absence of several regular starters who have moved on. Serhou Guirassy and Waldemar Anton have joined Borussia Dortmund, Hiroki Ito is at FC Bayern. New signings include striker Ermedin Demirovic from FC Augsburg (fifth highest Bundesliga scorer and provider in 2023/24). Deniz Undav, previously on loan from Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, has now been signed on permanent terms. Further information can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.

from 2024/25: travel no longer included on ticket

From the 2024/25 season, Bayer 04 match tickets are no longer automatically valid as travel cards. In future they can be downloaded free of charge. If the ticket is in physical form (printed match ticket/print@home ticket) then the local transport tickets can be obtained HERE. This requires entry of the six-digit ticket code, name and date of birth and then the ticket will be available to download.

Further information can be found HERE.

Stieler is the ref

Today's match will be in the hands of the experienced referee Tobias Stieler. For the 43-year-old match official it will be the 29th game involving the Werkself. Stieler's assistant referees are Christian Gittelmann and Jonas Weickenmeier..

Werkself Live

Anyone wanting to discover the latest information ahead of the Supercup final can take a look at the new Werkself Live. The matchday magazine, that includes key facts and stats on the match, is available at the BayArena. Alternatively it is available free online. Here is the e-paper

broadcasters – Werkself Radio and Live text updates

The match will be broadcast live on SAT.1 and Sky. Werkself Radio is also available with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep fans up-to-date at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.