Bayer Leverkusen captain Robert Andrich criticised the team's character after their 3-1 defeat by Stuttgart, conceding "we have too few people standing together".

Leverkusen's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League were severely dented at MHPArena, where the hosts came from behind to tighten their grip on fourth place in the Bundesliga.

Die Werkself, who are three points shy of Stuttgart, must beat Hamburg in their final league game of the season next weekend to stand any chance of usurping their top-four rivals.

Leverkusen had taken the lead through Aleix Garcia after just 34 seconds, but Andrich could not hide his frustration at the way the visitors surrendered that early advantage.

"It was too little from everyone," he told DAZN. "It was a symbol of our season. As soon as it gets tight and dicey, we don't manage to stand together as a team.

"That's a thing that annoys me extremely because it's a team thing. We didn't come close to beating Stuttgart over 90 minutes.

"We have a lot of characters who do quite a lot with themselves. We have too few people standing together. I have to blame myself for a lot. I've often stood here after games like this in which we didn't get into the game. The fault must lie somewhere.

"When I look at games like today, you have to say that we don't deserve it either, we have to be that honest with ourselves. It's better than saying that we could have won here as well.

"Anything can happen. We have to win our game, and then we have to pray."