Stuttgart 3 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen | Bundesliga. Aleix García’s lightning-fast strike after 34 seconds proved futile as Bayer Leverkusen now find themselves with one and a half feet out of the Champions League. Three points separate them from Stuttgart and Hoffenheim with just one matchday remaining.
Barring a miracle, Bayer Leverkusen will not play in the 2025-26 Champions League. It was within their grasp when Aleix García put the “aspirin team” ahead at 34 seconds… but the 3-1 defeat to Stuttgart, with Chema Andrés starting, leaves them with one foot out, if not both. With one game left, they sit sixth, three points behind fifth-placed Hoffenheim and fourth-placed Stuttgart, who occupy the Champions League zone. They would need to beat Hamburg at home and hope both Stuttgart and Hoffenheim lose their away matches to Eintracht and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively. Even then, goal difference could be in their favor.
The match could not have started better for the club chaired by Fernando Carro, who fielded Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix García from the start. Ibrahim Maza stole the ball from Ramon Hendriks in midfield, and Christian Kofane launched a counterattack. The former Albacete player then set up Aleix García to score his sixth goal of the season at just 34 seconds. He also has 10 assists to his name.
It turned out to be a mirage. Stuttgart equalized immediately in the 5th minute. Ermedin Demirović, formerly of Alavés, fired past Mark Flekken after a lightning-fast one-two with Nikolas Nartey. The 2-1 came controversially in added time of the first half. VAR spotted Edmond Tapsoba bringing down Deniz Undav, and Maximilian Mittelstädt made no mistake from the penalty spot.
What VAR gave Stuttgart at the end of the first half, it denied them at the start of the second. Demirović had a goal disallowed in the 46th minute for Undav’s offside in the build-up. The decisive blow came in the 58th minute. Demirović opened up play to Jaimie Leweling, who delivered a cross that Undav headed in from close range for his 19th goal of the season. Only Harry Kane (33) is ahead of him in the race for the top scorer. Stuttgart are now close to Champions League qualification, while Leverkusen may miss out two years after winning it.