Although the newcomers are in 13th position on 17 points in the Bundesliga ahead of matchday 15, a closer look at the season to date for the Swabian club reveals: The team coached by Hannes Wolf have picked up all but one of their points at home at the Mercedes Benz Arena. VfB have only conceded two of 17 goals on their own turf. "Stuttgart are very good at pressing at their own ground and are great at switching from defence to attack," said Heiko Herrlich. "Up to now, only FC Augsburg have managed to take a point there with a 0-0 draw. Otherwise, Stuttgart have won all their home games so far this season."
In the last two away games, VfB have only secured one draw (1-1 at Hannover 96 plus a 1-0 defeat at Werder Bremen). speaking at the pre-match press conference on Thursday morning at the Media Centre at the BayArena, Herrlich declared: "They won their last home game against Borussia Dortmund and we didn't manage to do that here." The target for his team on Friday night is clear: "Of course, we want to win. We are aware that we've dropped too many points this season. We need to keep on picking up points to secure our place at the top end of the table. So it's up to us to get a result at Stuttgart."
As in the 1-1 draw against Dortmund on Saturday, Bayer 04 are looking to focus on having a solid defence. "We did well in open play in the last game and created chances up front. That's based on working against the ball and the desire to make yourself available. We want to keep that up," said Herrlich who has high expectations of his team: "We just have to be more effective in converting our chances than we were in the first half against Dortmund."
The 45-year-old goes into the third-last away game of the year without two injured players Charles Aránguiz (muscular problem) and Vlad Yurchenko (foot) plus the suspended Wendell. Herrlich was unwilling to divulge how he will replace the full-back: "We have lots of options. Which player we use depends on whether or not we play with a back four."
The Werkself squad will head south after the final pre-match training session on Thursday afternoon. 670 Werkself supporters are expected to be at the Stuttgart ground on Friday night.
Bayer 04 have loaned Brazilian full-back Arthur to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for one year. Arthur Augusto de Matos Soares – the full name of the right-back – has a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2031. At Werder, the 23-year-old is expected to make an impact and help the long-established club further consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.
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Bayer 04 have loaned defender Jeanuel Belocian to Spanish top-flight side Racing Santander. The 21-year-old defender joins the team currently ninth in La Liga until the end of the current 2026/27 season. Belocian’s contract remains valid until 30 June 2029. Last season, the 1.86-metre-tall U21 international was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg for six months.
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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 personal 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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Carlotta Wamser has completed a move away from Bayer 04 Women to join Manchester City in England’s Women’s Super League. The 22-year-old Germany international spent one year with the Werkself.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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