Bayer Leverkusen were condemned to back-to-back Bundesliga defeats after losing 4-2 against Stuttgart.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-4 Stuttgart: Demirovic's double derails Martinez's side
After making a strong start to the Bundesliga season, Bayer Leverkusen have now lost back-to-back matches in the German top flight.
Ermedin Demirovic scored a brace at BayArena, while goals from Jamie Leweling and Bilal El Khannouss secured Stuttgart's first league win in three games.
Demirovic scored his first after just 14 minutes, reacting fastest to a rebound inside the box after Mark Flekken smothered El Khannouss' initial effort.
And Stuttgart profited from another rebound eight minutes later as Flekken's save from Grischa Promel's strike unknowingly bounced in off Leweling, but Patrik Schick halved the deficit before the half-hour mark, heading in from Aleix Garcia's corner.
Ibrahim Maza and Leweling both struck the woodwork before the break, but El Khannouss struck a third for Stuttgart six minutes into the second half as he rifled into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box.
The contest was all but settled in the 65th minute, when Demirovic was on hand to tap in from Deniz Undav's stunning cross, but Ibrahim Maza scored a consolation for the hosts, who missed the chance to move level on points with third-place Freiburg.
Leverkusen's defence exposed again
After losing 3-0 to Hoffenheim last weekend, Carles Martinez would have hoped for a better defensive performance from his Leverkusen side, only to see them concede four goals from 15 shots, which were worth 2.81 expected goals (xG).
Leverkusen have conceded nine goals in three matches across all competitions within the last week, following a 5-2 DFB-Pokal win over FC Nurnberg, as many as they had shipped in their first 10 matches of the season combined.
The Werkself have lost two consecutive league matches for the first time since January 2026, when they also lost to Stuttgart at home and Hoffenheim away, albeit in the reverse order, and with 13 points from eight matches, they are enduring their weakest start to a Bundesliga season in four years (five points in 2022-23).
Demirovic has found his scoring touch in recent weeks; he has scored a brace in two consecutive Bundesliga matches for the first time.
This has allowed Undav to move into a creator role, with the Germany international leading all players in chances created (five), while Chris Fuhrich also created four chances to go along with his assist.
