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.
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.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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