Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH (German: [ˌbaɪ̯ɐ ˈleːvɐˌkuːzn̩]), also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The club competes in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, and plays its home matches at the BayArena.
| Full name | Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Die Werkself (The Company's Eleven) Die Schwarzroten (The Black and Reds) | |||
| Founded | 1 July 1904 | |||
| Ground | BayArena | |||
| Capacity | 30,210 | |||
| Owner | Bayer AG | |||
| Administration | Fernando Carro (chairman) Simon Rolfes (sporting director) | |||
| Head coach | Xabi Alonso | |||
| League | Bundesliga | |||
| 2022–23 | Bundesliga, 6th of 18 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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The club was founded in 1904 by employees of the German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, whose headquarters are in Leverkusen and from which the club draws its name. It was formerly the best-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball, field handball and other sports including the RTHC Bayer Leverkusen (rowing, tennis and hockey). In 1999, the football department was separated from the sports club and is now a separate entity formally called Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH. Bayer were first promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979, and have remained in the top division ever since. The club's main colours are red and black, both having been used as the main shirt colour and with red and black stripes also having been used as home colours.
Leverkusen have won the Bundesliga once, winning the most recent league season in 2023–24, one DFB-Pokal, and one UEFA Cup. They also finished runners-up in the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, losing 2–1 to Real Madrid in the final. Their local rivals are 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Fortuna Düsseldorf.On 18 April 2024 Bayer Leverkusen's draw with West Ham United F.C. in the second leg of the UEFA Europa quarter final broke Juventus' unbeaten record of 43 games.