September brings the 28th Champions League campaign – and Barcelona will feature for the 25th time. The reigning Spanish champions have the highest number of appearances in the Champions League. The Catalans only missed out in 1995/1996, 1996/1997 and 2003/2004.
This will be the twelfth time for Bayer 04 and that puts the Werkself level with European giants like Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain and ahead of famous clubs like Atletico Madrid (nine times) and Manchester City (eight times). Of all the German clubs, only Bayern Munich (ahead of their 23rd appearance) and Borussia Dortmund (14) have competed in Europe's elite club competition more often.
Iker Casillas has played in goal 177 times in the Champions League and thereby holds the record number of appearances. Possibly his best performance in this competition was against Bayer 04: In the 2002 final, the then 20-year-old keeper came on and prevented the Werkself equalising in the second half with several brilliant saves, thereby helping Real Madrid to lift the trophy. It remains to be seen whether he can add to the total. The now 38-year-old Casillas is recovering from a heart attack and his club FC Porto have to take part in the qualifying rounds to progress to the Champions League proper. However, the Spaniard will retain his record for at least another year: Even if second-placed Cristiano Ronaldo plays in all games with Juventus up to and including the final then he would 'only' have made 175 appearances.
Just like Casillas, the Werkself player with the record number of parents was also in the 2002 final where he led Bayer 04 onto the pitch as captain. Carsten Ramelow heads the ranking in the club with 49 appearances for Leverkusen in the Champions League between 1997 and 2005. He is closely followed by Bernd Schneider (46). Of the current squad, the skipper Lars Bender (26) has made the most appearances.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were head-to-head at the top of this category for a long time but now the Portuguese has a slight lead. With 126 goals, Ronaldo is a top goalscorer in the Champions League with Messi in second place with 112 goals. There is a considerable gap to the Real legend Raúl (72) in third place.
The top Bayer 04 goalscorer in the Champions League is shared by two players: Michael Ballack and Ulf Kirsten have each found the back of the net nine times, followed by Oliver Neuville (eight goals) and Dimitar Berbatov (seven). Of the Bayer 04 squad for next season's competition, as it stands, three players have scored for the Werkself in the Champions League: Lars Bender (2011 against Genk) and Kevin Volland (2016 in Moscow) have each scored once, Karim Bellarabi twice (2012 at Barcelona and 2017 against Atletico Madrid).
Two teams share top spot in this ranking: Liverpool beat Besiktas 8-0 in November 2010 with Andrej Voronin and Sami Hyypiä in their line-up. Real Madrid achieved the same scoreline against the Swedish club Malmö in December 2015 with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick.
Bayer 04 experienced a night of top European football on 23 October 2013. The Werkself beat Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine 4-0 – up to now the club's biggest win in the Champions League. Stefan Kießling opened the scoring in the first half with a header, Simon Rolfes netted from the penalty spot and Sidney Sam made it three in the second half. And the scoring was rounded off with a second goal on the night for Kießling.
Even now, the Camp Nou in Barcelona regularly tops the attendances in the Champions League. The 100,000 capacity of the current stadium does not compare with the quarter-final first leg in 1994/95. 115,000 spectators saw Barcelona draw 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain following the extension to the lower tier over the previous summer. After 90 years the safety regulations issued by UEFA reduced the capacity to the current level.
The biggest crowd at a Bayer 04 tie was again on a magical night of European football for the Werkself. On 2 November 2016, 85,512 spectators were at the legendary Wembley Stadium to see a 1-0 away win for an impressive Werkself side against this year's finalists Tottenham Hotspur. Kevin Kampl scored the only goal of the game before running to celebrate with the Leverkusen supporters. Images that no Werkself supporter will forget in a hurry – and images that we might see again next season.
Kicking off the new season with a fresh look: Bayer 04, in collaboration with sportswear manufacturer New Balance, has unveiled the official kit for Leverkusen’s e-Sports players for the coming season. The jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day five (Thursday 6 August) is as follows: The squad have the final open session of the training camp in the morning. After lunch, there will be a team event.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
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