Head coach Heiko Herrlich was unable to call on Charles Aránguiz at the start of the run-in to the important away match at fifth-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday (21 October, 15.30 CET). The Chile international, who suffered a torn muscle in his right calf in the Bundesliga game at Schalke 04 two weeks ago, is still receiving treatment. Captain Lars Bender, Jonathan Tah and Benny Henrichs all missed the start of training this week – all three worked on their own following minor muscular problems but are expected to train with the rest the squad again on Wednesday.
Before the start of an intensive session on finishing, the Werkself spent an hour on video analysis on Tuesday morning. An open session is planned for Wednesday before the final preparations for the game against our rivals on the Rhine continue 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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