“Of course, two points after two games isn’t much but the opening fixtures were tough,” explained the Dutchman at the pre-match press conference. The opening match produced a 0-0 draw at VfL Wolfsburg followed by a 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig. “They were strong opponents. What was important to me: We played really well against Leipzig.” After the short preseason in the summer, Peter Bosz has identified a continual improvement in his team in terms of the quality of their game.
VfB Stuttgart have picked up one more point in their first two matches than Bayer 04, who have won 16 out of the last 17 against the next opponents. After the 3-2 defeat against Freiburg in the first Bundesliga match since returning to the top division, the team under coach Pellegrino Matarazzo secured a convincing 4-1 win at Mainz at the weekend.
Bosz and Co. know all about the Swabians from last season’s Round of 16 tie in the DFB Cup. The Werkself came out on top with a narrow 2-1 win en route to the final. “They’re a good team,” said the 56-year-old. “They transition well, have good players in midfield and are are well-balanced as a result. For me they are a team that will have no problems in the Bundesliga due to their quality.”
All the Werkself squad took part in the training session on Thursday with the exception of Paulinho who is still in rehab recovering from his torn cruciate at the start of July. Bosz said his new signing Santiago Arias (Atlético Madrid) has trained well this week. “We’ll have to wait and see if he’s match fit,” reported the Dutchman on Friday. “We’ll see what happens in today’s session as to whether they are all available for the Stuttgart game.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werks11 Radio (bayer04.de)
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
Attendance: 8,500
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
Show more
As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
Show more
The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have strengthened the goalkeeper position for the second half of the season. Germany keeper Rafaela Borggräfe has joined the Werkself on loan from English FA Women's Super League (WSL) club Liverpool until the end of the season.
Show more
Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
Show more
