
The first match
...took place on matchday six in the 1979/80 season. The two teams shared a 1-1 draw at the Haberland Stadium in front of a crowd of 22,000. Klaus Bruckmann headed in a cross from Dieter Herzog to give Bayer 04 the lead on 72 minutes. FC Köln striker Dieter Müller levelled the scores from a corner with eight minutes to play.
The first win
...was a 2-1 victory for Leverkusen in 1983/84. That was the ninth derby between the two clubs in the Bundesliga. Klaus Allofs put FC Köln 1-0 up after just four minutes before goals from Herbert Waas (34') and Bum-kun Cha (57') turned it round.
The first win in Cologne
...came with a 3-2 win for Bayer 04 on matchday 21 in the 1985/86 campaign. Klaus Allofs netted a brace on six and nine minutes to give Kölna 2-0 lead. Eric Ribbeck's team responded decisively after the break. Thomas Zechel pulled a goal back (51'), Bum-kun Cha levelled (72') and Herbert Waas netted the winner (78').
The most goals in a game
...between the two Rhineland rivals came in a game at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in May 1985. A spectacular encounter produced an entertaining 4-4 draw. Christian Schreier's opener (22') was cancelled out by Pierre Littbarski (25'), who also made it 2-2 (39') after Dirk Schlegel had restored Leverkusen's lead (36'). Hans-Peter Lehnhoff (44') and Manfred Lefkes (50') scored to put FC 4-2 up before a brace from Herbert Waas (64'/75') put the Werkself level for the last time the game.
The biggest wins
…against FC were a 4-0 win for Bayer 04 in November 1997 with a strike from Erik Meijer (18') followed by an Ulf Kirsten hat-trick (37'/89'/90') plus a 5-1 victory in November 2014. Köln took an early lead with a penalty scored by Matthias Lehmann on four minutes but the Werkself struck back with two goals from Karim Bellarabi (26'/90') and Josip Drmic (79'/88') and one from Hakan Calhanoglu (61').
The longest run
...was achieved by Bayer 04 between 1996/97 (4-0 in Cologne) and 2010/11 (2-0 in Cologne). Leverkusen went 14 consecutive games without defeat against FC Köln with ten wins and four draws.
The most goals
...against FC were scored by prolific goalscorers. Ulf Kirsten (pictured above) heads the list by far with 12 goals against FC. Behind Ulf are Herbert Waas (six) and Arne-Larsen Ökland (four). Amongst the current Bayer 04 first team squad, Stefan Kießling, Lars Bender, Julian Brandt and Karim Bellarabi have all scored twice for the Werkself against FC Köln.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
Show more
Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
Show more
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
Show more
Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
Show more
Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
Show more