Bayer Leverkusen 1-4 Stuttgart: Leweling headlines first-half masterclass

Bayer Leverkusen endured a nightmare start to 2026 as they fell to a humiliating 4-1 defeat at home to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, with all four of the visitors’ goals coming in the first half.

Kasper Hjulmand’s team were effectively beaten before the interval on their return to action following the Bundesliga’s winter break, with Jamie Leweling starring for Stuttgart.

After Josha Vagnoman tested Mark Flekken almost straight from kick-off, Leweling rounded the former Brentford goalkeeper to open the scoring seven minutes in.

Leweling then saw a one-on-one finish chalked off for offside, but Stuttgart did have a second goal in the 29th minute, with Maximilian Mittelstadt slotting home from the penalty spot after Vagnoman went down under a lazy Jeanuel Belocian challenge.

And things got even better for Stuttgart with two goals in three minutes just before half-time. Deniz Undav got his second assist for Leweling for their third goal, then added his own name to the scoresheet with a composed finish through Flekken’s legs.

Hjulmand sent on Loic Bade and Ernest Poku in a pair of half-time changes, and the latter almost had an assist when he teed up Martin Terrier for a miscued effort.

Alejandro Grimaldo pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after the tricky Malick Tillman was brought down by Jeff Chabot, but that goal proved a mere consolation on a chastening day for Leverkusen.

Data Debrief: First-half blitz blows Leverkusen away

This was just the second instance of Stuttgart taking a lead of at least four goals into half-time in a Bundesliga match, having led 5-0 at Nuremberg in September 1982 (won 5-0).

Stuttgart utterly dominated the opening 45 minutes, hitting the target with seven of their eight shots before the interval and racking up 2.5 expected goals (xG) to Leverkusen’s 0.61.

Leverkusen hit back in the second half, ending the match with 16 shots to Stuttgart’s 10 and with 1.95 xG, a tad closer to the visitors’ final figure of 2.6.

But the damage had already been done, with Stuttgart ending their run of 15 competitive matches without a win against Leverkusen, which was their longest active winless streak against any Bundesliga club.