The New York Times’ Rory Smith pointed out that “Leverkusen has illuminated the European season like no other team in winning its first German championship, after 120 years of trying. And it has also overtaken Benfica as the owner of the longest unbeaten run in European soccer since World War I."
Top U.S. sports outlet The Athletic wrote "for 54 games, Bayer 04 held the world’s attention... aside from the flowing football, the growth of Xabi Alonso, the flagging careers coming back to life (Granit Xhaka, Jonas Hofmann, Alex Grimaldo) and new stars being born (Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Victor Boniface), it all just looked so much fun!"
World's leading business paper from the UK, Financial Times, wrote that Bayer Leverkusen's impressive performance this season will be "hailed as a chance to boost Bundesliga’s global appeal" while its U.S. counterpart the Wall Street Journal labeled Leverkusen "the team that forgot how to lose" with a headline last week as it pointed to Bayer 04's historic 51-match unbeaten streak.
The Guardian wrote that there is likely more to come: "The double is just the start of the journey for evolving Bayer Leverkusen." Continued writer Andy Brassell: "Alonso’s side have been a juggernaut, trampling all in their way and, on the occasions they have found themselves behind, eventually reeling in their opponents with increasing inevitability. They have transformed Germany’s and the continent’s expectations of them, and their expectations of themselves."
So continued many other top sports dailies across Europe. "Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen completes the double in a spectacular season," wrote Spain's leading sports journal Marca, while France's L'Equipe wrote that "Bayer Leverkusen put an exclamation point on its historic season by capturing the double."
"Thanks to a fireball from Xhaka in the 17th minute, Xabi Alonso's men made up for the defeat in the Europa League final and ended the season with the double," said Corriere dello Sport in Italy.
CBS Sports (USA) wrote "the first German double winners to go through an entire domestic campaign without defeat. That there was no Europa League title to go with it should barely dull the triumph for a club that has so often borne witness to the glory of others."
Said ESPN soccer insider Alejandro Moreno after the season concluded: "now Bayer 04 Leverkusen have become the talk of the town, the talk of the league, the talk of Europe! They are attracting the attention from everywhere."
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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