The Werkself have not clocked up as many wins in the Bundesliga against any other club as they have against VfB Stuttgart (40). VfB have only suffered more home defeats in the Bundesliga against Bayern Munich (32) than they have against Bayer 04 (18).
The Werkself have also only lost one of the last 22 matches against VfB (17 wins, 4 draws) – a 1-0 defeat at home in the Bundesliga in April 2018. The Black and Reds have not lost in their last ten visits to Stuttgart (7 wins, 3 draws) – Bayer 04 do not have a longer unbeaten run against any other current Bundesliga club.
Keep calm is the motto for VfB Stuttgart ahead of the last three games of the season. Easier said than done. Last weekend’s 2-1 defeat away to bottom-of-the-table Hertha Berlin was extremely annoying to the Swabians who were unable to exploit their superiority on the pitch, particularly in the second half. More possession (64%), more shots on goal (16-7), a higher pass completion rate (86%) – most of the stats were in favour of VfB. That reflected the great disappointment at the defeat in the capital. More info on personnel, performers and problems for VfB Stuttgart can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Frank Willenborg as the referee for the match against VfB Stuttgart. The 44-year-old has previously been in charge of eight Bundesliga fixtures involving the Werkself (five wins, one draw, two defeats). His assistant referees are Guido Kleve and Dr. Arne Aarnink with Günter Perl in action as the VAR official.
Werkself Radio is available as usual for anyone unable to be at the game today. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann. You can also keep up-to-date via our live text commentary to ensure you don’t miss any of the action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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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 will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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