The online Sunday edition of the Kölner Stadt Anzeiger believes Bayer 04 missed the chance of taking a big step forward to the Champions League against Stuttgart. A combination of carelessness and silly mistakes affected the team coached by Heiko Herrlich in the 1-0 defeat against VfB Stuttgart and now they have to rely on other teams and better performances of their own in the final two games against Werder Bremen and Hannover 96." Another reason behind the 1-0 scoreline was the performance of Stuttgart's outstanding keeper Ron-Robert Zieler: "The VfB goalkeeper reacted brilliantly half a dozen times including the penalty save. And his one mistake on 66 minutes, when he gave the ball away to Bellarabi, he rectified himself."
The Sonntags Express also criticizes the Werkself finishing: "Are Bayer going to let Champions League qualification slip through their hands in the run-in? After three defeats in succession nerves are jangling under the Bayer cross. Why? Because the Bayer attack was a complete flop! Squandering chances started on 15 minutes … Bayer's first culprit. Lucas Alario missed the gift of a penalty. In the absence of the usual penalty taker Wendell, the Argentinian hit the ball towards the left corner of the net at a comfortable height - no problem for Stuttgart's keeper Zieler. It was Kevin Volland's turn in the second half. After a brilliant solo run by Lars Bender, the unmarked striker fired the ball into the stands from eleven yards out."
The Stuttgarter Zeitung report from Leverkusen focuses on VfB Stuttgart's European ambitions: "The VfB captain Christian Gentner made the Stuttgart fans happy with a header back across the Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno. The newcomers to the top flight won 1-0 at Bayer Leverkusen thanks to Gentner's strike and are now on 45 points with two games to play. The team coached by Tayfun Korkut are just one point behind Eintracht Frankfurt in seventh place in the Bundesliga. After matchday 34, that position would ensure qualification for the Europa League."
And Kicker also sees the Swabian team as candidates for the Europa League: "A mercilessly efficient VfB Stuttgart have moved up to seventh thanks to a 1-0 win at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Swabians only needed one real chance and an impressive Ron-Robert Zieler to secure a flattering win against the Werkself who missed a number of chances and have now conceded the fourth Champions League qualification place to Hoffenheim with a host of missed chances."
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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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 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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"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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