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Bayer Leverkusen vs VfB Stuttgart has been one of the most exciting Bundesliga games in recent seasons, usually end-to-end, and always with a late goal too (usually from Leverkusen).
Today, the tide seems to have begun to change in this fixture, as Stuttgart blew Leverkusen away in the first half.
Jamie Leweling would open the scoring after a well-threaded pass from Deniz Undav found him, and he was able to slot the ball past Mark Flekken. A foul on Josha Vagnoman then awarded Stuttgart a penalty, where Maximilian Mittelstadt made it 2-0 from the spot.
Leverkusen had a handful of chances, but none that would truly trouble Alexander Nübel.
Then a late flurry before half-time saw Leweling add his second of the game with a shot outside the box before Undav turned scorer, making it 4-0, practically putting the game out of reach for Leverkusen.
Stuttgart were a lot quieter in the second half, as the game just needed managing. The hosts would be given a slim chance of a comeback when Alejandro Grimaldo converted a penalty, but despite forcing several good saves from Nübel, this was not to be a re-run of the 4-3 from last season.
Stuttgart finally beat Leverkusen:
As mentioned in the intro, this game is a bit of a modern-day classic, and this kind of continued the trend in a slightly different way.
Die Werkself have become a bit of a bogey team for Stuttgart, and the 4-1 win today has ended a run of 15 games with a win against Leverkusen for the Swabians.
In the past, especially under Xabi Alonso, Leverkusen did sometimes ride their luck against Sebastian Hoeneß’s side, especially when it looked like the German had outcoached the Spaniard, but today, the Stuttgart head coach can now say he comfortably outcoached his counterpart.
Leverkusen have had a good defensive structure up until now, but the way Hoeneß set up his team completely confused the host’s back line, and they did not have answers to the likes of Undav and Leweling. All this while Stuttgart’s main creative option in the first half of the season, Bilal El Khannous,s is still at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Stuttgart have needed a statement win for a while to show that they are ‘back’, and this is definitely it. 2026 may be the year of the Brustring.
Bayer Leverkusen:
Mark Flekken (3), Jarell Quansah (5), Robert Andrich (3), Jeanuël Belocian (4), Arthur (5), Equi Fernandez (4), Aleix Garcia (5), Alejandro Grimaldo (6), Malik Tillman (5), Nathan Tella (5), Martin Terrier (5)
Others: Loïc Bade (5), Ernest Poku (5), Jonas Hofmann (5), Alejo Sarco (5), Lucas Vázquez (-)
VfB Stuttgart:
Alexander Nübel (6), Josha Vagnoman (6), Jeff Chabot (6), Ramon Hendriks (6), Maximilian Mittelstädt (6), Atakan Karazor (6), Angelo Stiller (6), Jamie Leweling (8), Nikolas Nartey (6), Chris Führich (7), Deniz Undav (8)
Others: Finn Jeltsch (5), Lorenz Assignon (-), Jeremy Arevalo (-), Chema Andres (-), Ermedin Demirovic (-)
GGFN Man of the Match: Jamie Leweling (8)
Leweling ended 2025 and started 2026; his double today means that in the past three games, he has three goals and two assists. and is one of the most inform players in German football, along with his Stuttgart teammate Deniz Undav.
The set-up of Sebastian Hoeneß’s side today meant that the winger was more or less playing as a striker alongside Undav, and it worked very well. Leweling caused plenty of problems for the Leverkusen backline, who were unable to find an answer.
We are now in a World Cup year, and with the wing positions in the German national team not as locked in as other positions, if Leweling keeps his form up, he has absolutely thrown his hat in the ring for a spot in Julian Nagelsmann’s 26-man squad in the summer.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
