Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH and commonly referred to as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, and hosts its home matches at the BayArena.

Established in 1904 by employees of the pharmaceutical company Bayer, whose headquarters are in Leverkusen, the club derives its name from the company. Initially, it was the most prominent department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and RTHC Bayer Leverkusen, sports clubs whose members participated in various sports, including athletics, gymnastics, basketball, field handball, rowing, tennis, and hockey. In 1999, the football department became a separate entity. The club’s main colors are red and black, which are featured in their kits and badge. Their local rivals include 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Bayer Leverkusen was promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979 and won their first top-flight honor, the UEFA Cup, in 1988, followed by the DFB Pokal in 1993. The club notoriously finished runners-up in three competitions in 2002, including the UEFA Champions League. After more than three decades without a major trophy, Bayer Leverkusen won their first-ever Bundesliga title in 2024, along with the DFB Pokal. They became the first German team to achieve an unbeaten domestic double and set a European record for consecutive unbeaten competitive games (51).