Seven goals conceded, nothing to show for it. Carles Martínez’s Leverkusen had reached matchday 8 as one of the Bundesliga’s early stories, with a five-game unbeaten league run behind them. In the space of a week, that run is gone.
Stuttgart made the opening count. Ermedin Demirović turned home a parried effort in the 14th minute, and Jamie Leweling added a second eight minutes later. Patrik Schick’s finish from an Aleix García assist on 28 minutes gave Bayer a route back in, but it was never taken.
Bilal El Khannouss restored the two-goal cushion six minutes into the second half, finishing from the edge of the box after a Chris Führich pass. Demirović added the gloss on 65 minutes, rifling in from a Deniz Undav assist. Ibrahim Maza’s strike on 79 minutes was all Leverkusen could pull back. The expected-goals numbers told the same story the scoreline did: Stuttgart 3.23, the hosts 1.77.
Demirović hits four in two
The Bosnia and Herzegovina forward has now scored four Bundesliga goals in two matches, and he took 65 percent of the player-of-the-match vote.
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Seven conceded in a week
Hoffenheim’s 3-0 win on 25 October felt like a correction at the time. Andrej Kramarić’s 79th-minute penalty, Alexander Prass’ thunderous strike ten minutes later and Max Moerstedt’s stoppage-time goal ended a five-game unbeaten run that had made Leverkusen look like a Champions League contender under their new coach.
Saturday removed the “correction” from that reading. Leverkusen have now shipped seven goals in a week, lost at home for the first time in 2026-27 and watched the division’s chasing pack close in. The club appointed Martínez ahead of the season as the successor to Kasper Hjulmand.
Leverkusen remain sixth, but Stuttgart’s win pulls them up to 10th and to within four points of the Werkself. Both sides are back in Bundesliga action on matchday 9 next weekend.
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