Compared with the 3-0 win against SV 07 Elversberg in the second round of the DFB Pokal, head coach Xabi Alonso made seven changes: Only birthday boy Nordi Mukiele, Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba and Granit Xhaka played from the start again. Martin Terrier was unavailable as were the injured Amine Adli and Jeanuel Belocian.
The match was evenly balanced from the start but there was a setback for Stuttgart: After 180 seconds Jamie Leweling complained of pains in his left thigh off the ball. The Germany international had to be substituted and was replaced by Fabian Rieder (8'). The first noteworthy chance of the game came on twelve minutes: Jeremie Frimpong intercepted a Stuttgart pass and raced towards the VfB goal but Alexander Nübel was able to save his shot. Shortly after that, Alejandro Grimaldo tested the Stuttgart keeper (14'), Anrie Chase then blocked an effort from Florian Wirtz (15').
The Black and Reds increased the pressure as the game went on, pressing high and continuing to play on the front foot – and the ball was in the back of the net but celebrations were cut short: Frimpong converted a pass from Victor Boniface but the provider was offside in the build-up (33'). The next chance for Bayer 04 fell to Tapsoba on 41 minutes with the central defender heading against the bar from a corner. The defender, along with Tah and Co., was in full control at the back with VfB not having a single shot in the first half that ended goalless.
The Black and Reds were on top again after the restart and had the first big chance in the second half: Wirtz intercepted a misplaced pass by Stuttgart and set up Boniface who shot against the right hand post (53'). Alonso then made a change in attack bringing on Jonas Hofmann for Mukiele. The visitors also made substitutions with Deniz Undav having their first chance of the game on 61 minutes.
Wirtz chipped a ball over the top to Frimpong but his header at pace went just wide of the post (66') and Nübel made an impressive save with his feet to deny Boniface (73'). On 77 minutes, Wirtz was kept out by the Stuttgart keeper – with shot number 17 of the night. Alonso made further substitutions late on with Patrik Schick, Nathan Tella and Exequiel Palacios coming on. However, despite the fresh legs and continued attacking efforts to the end, the Werkself were unable to gain the rewards for their efforts. The match against the runners-up ended goalless.
The Werkself now have two away games in the third double fixture week: The Black and Reds are away to Liverpool on Matchday 4 in the Champions League on Tuesday, 5 November (kick-off: 21.00 CET). That is followed on Saturday, 9 November (kick-off: 15.30 CET) by a visit to VfL Bochum on Bundesliga Matchday 10. Then comes the final international break of this year.
Match stats:
Bayer 04: Hradecky - Mukiele (Hofmann 54'), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie - Xhaka, Andrich (Palacios 86') - Frimpong (Tella 86'), Wirtz, Grimaldo - Boniface (Schick 86')
VfB Stuttgart: Nübel - Vagnoman, Rouault, Chase, Mittelstädt (Hendriks 58') - Karazor, Stiller - Leweling (Rieder 8’, Führich 58’), Undav, Millot (Demirovic 80’) - Touré (Al-Dakhil 80’)
Yellow cards: Andrich, Mukiele, Xhaka - Karazor, Millot, Chase, Stiller
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)
Attendance: 30,210 (sold out) at the BayArena
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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