Bayer Leverkusen and a little bit of history ahead of facing Newcastle United

Officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and more commonly Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, was founded in 1904 by employees of the paint factory, today better known as the pharmaceutical company Bayer, whose headquarters are in Leverkusen and from which the club draws its name.

Until 1930 however, Wiesdorf was the hometown of Bayer 04, and Leverkusen was merely the district where the factories and workers’ housing were located.

In 1930, Wiesdorf and the neighbouring municipalities merged to form a new town which was named Leverkusen, reflecting the importance of the factory to the region.

As was common practice in Germany, the club was formerly a department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen sports club, but in 1999 the football department was separated from the sports club.

Leverkusen’s rise to prominence took three quarters of a century, they were only promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979. Their first trophy, the UEFA Cup was won in 1988 when they beat RCD Espanol by three goals to two on penalties. Trailing 3-0 from the first leg at the Estadi de Sarria, Leverkusen left it late in the return fixture, scoring three second half goals to set up the penalty shootout at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion (later renamed the Bay Arena).

The club won its first domestic honour, the DFB Pokal, in 1993 with a solitary goal victory over Hertha Berlin’s second string who despite playing in the third tier had made it to the final, the first and only time a reserve side has progressed that far in the competition.

After they had almost been relegated in 1996, Leverkusen earned a series of four second-place finishes from 1997 to 2002.

Most notably, the team had the Bundesliga title within their grasp in 2000 and 2002. In 2000, Leverkusen needed only a draw against SpVgg Unterhaching to win the title, but lost 2–0, Bayern Munich prising the title away with a 3–1 victory over Werder Bremen. Two years later, Leverkusen surrendered a five-point lead by losing two of its last three matches, this time Borussia Dortmund clinching the title in a dramatic finale to the season.

The 2002 season was dubbed the ‘Treble Horror’, as Leverkusen were also beaten 4–2 in the DFB-Pokal final by Schalke 04, as well as losing the Champions League final at Hampden Park when Zinedine Zidane scored a tremendous volley for Real Madrid in a 2-1 win that secured the Spanish club’s ninth European Cup.

For five members of the Bayer Leverkusen team, the agony in 2002 endured, Carsten Ramelow, Bernd Schneider, Michael Ballack, Oliver Neuville and Has-Jorg Butt were also members of the German national team that lost the World Cup final against Brazil in Yokohama.

In the following season, Newcastle United was of course paired with Leverkusen in the second group stage of the Champions League, doing the double over the Germans, winning both matches 3-1.

In the away fixture, with Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy both suspended, United’s makeshift strike force of Shola Ameobi and Lomano LuaLua scored three first-half goals as Leverkusen were blown away. A week later, Shearer was back and scored a hat-trick before half time in front of the Leazes End.

After going so near at the turn of the century, Bayer Leverkusen didn’t return to such heights until the appointment of Xabi Alonso as head coach in October 2022. In his first senior managerial role, Alonso guided the team to safety and a sixth-place finish in the 2022/23 season.

The following season came unprecedented success as Leverkusen set a new club record for the longest unbeaten start to a season, followed by breaking the Bundesliga record for the longest unbeaten run, before breaking the European record of the European “top 5 leagues” (Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A), going 43 games without defeat.

In April 2024, Leverkusen were crowned Bundesliga champions for the first time ever after beating Werder Bremen 5–0, ending Bayern Munich’s run of 11 successive league titles.

In May 2024, Bayer Leverkusen then set a new record for the longest run of matches without a loss in European football following a 2–2 draw against Roma to clinch a place in the final of the Europa League and although the club finished the league season unbeaten (the first club in the Bundesliga to do so) their remarkable unbeaten streak ended in their 52nd game of the season when they inexplicably lost 3-0 in the Europa League final against Bergamo’s Atalanta. Leverkusen did however, win the 2024 DFB-Pokal final by beating FC Kaiserslautern to secure a domestic double.

The Bundesliga title was surrendered to Bayern Munich the following season, Bayern also beating Leverkusen 5–0 on aggregate in the round of 16 of the Champions League.

Alonso departed the club at the end of last season to replace Carlo Ancelotti as manager of Real Madrid and in May 2025, Leverkusen announced former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag would be his replacement. Ten Hag’s tenure was an absolute disaster as the Dutchman allegedly failed to connect with anyone at the club, lasting for only three competitive fixtures, before departing with Kasper Hjulmand taking up the reins in September.

Michaela, Matt, Hanna and Anth at Dusseldorf Airport en route to Bayer Leverkusen match

So far this season, Bayer Leverkusen have made a respectable start, currently sitting fourth in the Bundesliga in the slipstream of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig but a fair distance from table topping Bayern Munich.

Bayer’s Champions League campaign has yielded two wins, two draws and a solitary defeat, a chastening 7-2 reverse at home to PSG. With both wins coming on the road at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon and the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, there’s no doubt that Leverkusen pose a threat, although it’s worth remembering that Newcastle United recently humbled both Benfica and Manchester City at St James’ Park.

Given Newcastle United has now got the monkey off its back by winning at the Hill Dickinson, it is evident that we can win away from home, as of course was the case when we travelled to Belgium and swatted Union S-G aside on Champions League matchday two.

I’m therefore looking at this as a winnable fixture and I’m willing to wager that Eddie’s boys will emulate the class of 2002 on Wednesday evening.