Bundesliga top game
Disastrous first half: Leverkusen goes under
Updated January 10, 2026 – 8:29 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Debacle for the runner-up in the top game of the Bundesliga. The gap to the top of the table is getting bigger and bigger.
This bankruptcy really hurts. Bayer Leverkusen lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart. From Leverkusen’s perspective it was already 0:4 at halftime. Only once in Bundesliga history has Bayer been further behind: 0-5 against FC Bayern. Leverkusen is now twelve points behind leaders Bayern and four points behind second Borussia Dortmund.
Jamie Leweling with a brace (7th/45th), Maximilian Mittelstädt (29th, penalty kick) and Deniz Undav (45+2nd) – three players who could also represent Germany at the World Cup in the summer – scored in the first 45 minutes. Alejandro Grimaldo (66th, penalty kick) only scored the consolation goal for Leverkusen.
Coach Kasper Hjulmand’s Werkself had a bad day without the injured striker Patrik Schick. “He has a bit of muscle problems. Nothing major, but enough not to play,” said Hjulmand before the game about the Czech’s absence on Sky.
Schick watched in suffering from the stands as his team was completely torn apart in the first half. In the second minute, Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken saved his team from falling behind after a Leweling header.
Just five minutes later he was powerless after a dream pass from Undav to Leweling. The VfB attacker, who was allegedly courted by Premier League club Bournemouth, really turned up the heat and played the Bayer defense dizzyingly. His supposed 2-0 was whistled after a quarter of an hour after Undav was offside. Shortly before the end of the first half, Flekken was once again powerless to deal with Leweling’s effortless and dry long-range shot.
In the meantime, Mittelstädt had already increased the score to 2-0 from the spot because Jeanuel Belocian had fouled his opponent Josha Vagnoman too impetuously in his own penalty area. When Undav increased the score to 4-0 in stoppage time in the first half, there was no stopping the VfB fans in the guest block. “One more goes, one more goes in” and “Bayer 04” mocked the VfB supporters in view of the unexpected half-time score.