Welcome to the centurions’ club

Such an impressive number of appearances in Europe’s premier club competition was hardly to be expected when the Werkself heard the Champions League anthem for the first time in in September 1997. Of the previous 99 games, Bayer 04 have won 38, drawn 21 and lost 40. Those are just numbers. We have put together a few interesting facts and insights on big games over the past 20 years on the top European stage.

The qualifiers

The media quite often like to suggest Bayer 04 lose their bottle in crucial matches. That certainly does not apply to qualifying ties in the Champions League: The Werkself have had to play two knock-out games to progress to the group stages in five seasons and they left the ring as (usually convincing) winners five times: In 1997 against Dynamo Tbilisi (6-1 and 0-1), in 2001 against Red Star Belgrade (0-0 and 3-0), in 2004 against Banik Ostrava (5-0 and 1-2), in 2014 against FC Copenhagen (3-2 and 4-0) and 2015 against Lazio (0-1 and 3-0). “The pressure was intense but the team turned the incredible tension into positive energy,” said the then coach Christoph Daum after the 6-1 win against Tbilisi. And that also applied to all further qualifiers in the following years.

Debut appearance

The Champions League anthem rang out at the BayArena for the first time in September 1997. Bayer 04 were in a very challenging group alongside AS Monaco, Sporting Lisbon and Lierse SK – and the opening game was at home to the Belgian champions. “The opposition were not the biggest of clubs but they made life very difficult for us in this match,” said Stefan Beinlich, who was the main protagonist in this clash. ‘Paule’ converted a penalty five minutes before the break after a foul on Ulf Kirsten. “I put it away like I always took my penalties: calm and straight down the middle.” With eleven minutes to play Beinlich was at the centre of attention again in a tough and hectic encounter when he picked up a second yellow card: “It was the first and only time I was ever sent off.” Bayer 04 went through with Monaco but lost out in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid (1-1 and 0-3)

Ready for take off

In the fourth Champions League campaign in 2001/02, that started with the qualifier against Red Star Belgrade and, after an incredible run, ended against Real Madrid in the final at Hampden Park, the group stage included games against Barcelona. On 25 September 2001 the Catalan superstars, including Xavi, Sergi, Luis Enrique, Cocu and Kluivert, played at the BayArena. The Spaniards led at the break thanks to a Luis Enriques goal and penalty miss from the keeper Jörg Butt. Coach Klaus Toppmöller threw caution to the wind and brought on Yildiray Bastürk for the start of the second half. And the bustling Turk wreaked havoc amongst the opposition so that Barca lost their way. Bastürk netted the equaliser seven minutes after the restart with a low drive to the near post before Oliver Neuville converted a Bernd Schneider cross to score the winner at 2-1 on 69 minutes. “That game opened our eyes,” said Bastürk, “as we realised we could not only compete with the big clubs but also go on to beat them.”

A pea-souper

That fantastic season also included the most unusual away trip for Leverkusen in the Champions League. The match in question was a second round tie on Wednesday 21 November 2001 away to Juventus at the Stadio Delle Alpi. With half an hour to go before kick-off the Swiss referee Urs Maier decided to call the game off. After a beautiful day the weather turned to shroud the stadium in fog with both goals almost invisible from the stands. A rerun in Turin was set two weeks later on 28 November. It was not a Wednesday, and the sun shine again during the day – and the fog descended again. Again there was nothing to be seen at the Stadio Delle Alpi and it the game was called off for a second time. UEFA decided to try for a third time the following afternoon at 15.00 CET. That meant the coach driver at the time Günter Thiel had to drive 80 kilometres with a police escort to Turin as all the hotels in and around the city were booked up. That was the end of a chapter: Nowotny, Lucio, Kirsten and Co. got to bed very late – and were unable to perform the next day in a 4-0 defeat in front of a sparsely populated crowd of 3,500.

Treble in England

In February 2002,15 years after the first European outing in the UEFA Cup in 1986 in Kalmar, Bayer 04 faced English opposition for the first time in a competitive match in Europe. It was an unforgettable sporting experience in the home of football for the many Werkself fans despite a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal at the legendary Highbury Stadium. “Our fans were world class at Highbury,” enthused the Argentinean left back Diego Placente back then. And there were two more trips over the English Channel to famous grounds in that season for Bayer 04: in the quarter-final against Liverpool at Anfield and at Old Trafford away to Manchester United in the last four. Leverkusen came out on top in both ties with a 4-2 home win against Liverpool, with Lucio scoring the key goal, and with a 2-2 draw in Manchester thanks to goals from Michael Ballack and Oliver Neuville amongst the most outstanding and emotional contributions from Werkself players ever. “I will never forget the applause from the Man United fans after the final whistle, it was incredible,” said honorary club captain Carsten Ramelow.

Finest hour

The Werkself prepare to face Tottenham on Tuesday in their hundredth game in the Champions League – and if they reproduce the same effort in the fiftieth tie then there will be no real doubts about the winner. Real Madrid visited the BayArena in the opening fixture of the group stage in 2004. And it was not any old Real Madrid side on the way up. Instead, it was a team full of galacticos that landed up at Leverkusen. The lien-up included: Zidane, Beckham, Figo, Raúl, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Casillas in goal. After 90 incredible minutes they were brought down to earth with a bump. Jacek Krzynowek scored a wonder goal from 25 yards out – the ball rebounded off the upright and into the net off the back of Casillas – goals from Franca and Dimitar Berbatov lifted the roof off the BayArena in a 3-0 victory. “Everything went right on the day,” said the winger Paul Freier. And the former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann looked on from the stands in admiration: “The way Leverkusen played here was simply brilliant.”

Top goalscorers

While we are on the subject of scorers and shots: 45 Werkself pros have scored the 155 goals in the Champions League to date. The leading goalscorer for Bayer 04 in the premier European club competition is Ulf Kirsten with eleven strikes to his name – closely followed by Oliver Neuville (10), Michael Ballack and Dimitar Berbatov (both 9). Of the current Werkself players, Stefan Kießling and Hakan Calhanoglu (both 7) plus Chicharito and Admir Mehmedi (both 6) lead the way.

On tour

This season Bayer 04 are in the Champions League for the eleventh time – as are Borussia Dortmund. Bayern Munich are the only German club who have competed at this level more often (for the 20th time this season). There have certainly been some long journeys over the years. The longest trip was also one of the first for the Werkself with the 1997 UCL qualifier involving a 3,700 kilometre journey to Tbilisi in Georgia. Bayer 04 have played in 18 countries in the Champions League so far.