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.
Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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