Löw has selected 24 players, including Max Meyer, Julian Brandt and Niklas Süle who won silver medals a week ago at Rio 2016. Commenting on the trio, Löw said : “Max Meyer and Julian Brandt have already been with us and we wanted to get to know Niklas Süle. The three youngsters earned their call-ups through their very good performances. I think they see the call-up as motivation and inspiration to produce consistent performances. With players like them we are looking to take the next step in their development. They have great potential. As a general rule: The door to the national side is open. I’m sure other players will get their chance in the coming months.”
For Karim Bellarabi and Kevin Volland this represents a return to the Germany squad after missing out on Euro 2016.
Next Wednesday’s international against Finland will be the final international appearance for Bastian Schweinsteiger. The captain announced his international retirement a few days after the Euros and the game against the Scandinavians will be cap number 121 for the 32-year-old. The game in Mönchengladbach was also supposed to present a chance for Lukas Podolski to bid farewell on the international stage. Due to injury, Podolski will have to catch up at a later date.
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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