Stuttgart – Bayer Leverkusen: Stunning Comeback Tightens Title Race (3-4)

In a match that seemed set to derail Bayer Leverkusen’s title charge, Stuttgart’s resilience put them on the brink of a statement win. However, a dramatic late comeback saw Leverkusen snatch victory in a seven-goal thriller, keeping the Bundesliga title race wide open.

Tactical analysis and match report by Fahd Ahmed.

A Sunday night clash between two of the most tactically intriguing German teams was the tale of the tape in the Bundesliga weekend. Both sides have recently endured a rough patch. Stuttgart have not clinched three points since their impressive 2-1 victory against Borussia Dortmund, making it four consecutive winless league games for Sebastian Hoeneß. The dry form stunted their late surge to gain European football.

Xabi Alonso has also suffered from a difficult past couple of weeks. Despite stringing together an impressive eight-match unbeaten run ahead of crucial Champions League ties, back-to-back defeats against rivals Bayern Munich were demoralizing as the current Bundesliga frontrunners dominated both legs. Between those two losses was also a shock 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen in a weekend where Vincent Kompany’s side also slipped. However, Leverkusen did not deliver to capitalize.

Hoeneß made a few shuffles to the team that disappointingly drew with Holstein Kiel. In defense . . .