New main sponsor

 At the start of the new season Bayer 04 present the new main sponsor TelDaFax ENERGY. The Bayer 04 first team will play with the name of the company from the energy and telecommunications sector on their shirts up to the 2009/10 season.

 Nine new players

 In addition to the top scorer of 2006/07 Theofanis Gekas there are another eight new signings in the squad with the arrival of Lukas Sinkiewicz, Manuel Friedrich, Arturo Vidal, Hans Sarpei, Sascha Dum, Erik Domaschke, Vratislav Gresko and Ricardo Faty. Juan, Andrej Voronin, Frederik Stenman, Marko Babic, Jörg Butt and Ahmed Madouni leave the club.

 Early exit in DFB cup

 The Werkself go out of the Cup competition in the first round after losing 1-0 to second division FC St. Pauli. Just as the two teams were set to play extra time the decisive goal was scored by Boll with three minutes to play.

 Bayer 04 get up to speed

After an indifferent start to the Bundesliga campaign (0-0 against Cottbus, 0-1 at HSV) Bayer 04 improved enormously and are in second place behind Bayern after seven matches. The 1-0 defeat against the record champions starts a brief week phase before Michael Skibbe's team gets back on track with a 4-0 victory over Bielefeld and goes on to win five games in succession. Bayer 04 in the first half of the season with a 5-2 defeat away to Werder Bremen. The Black and Reds are in fourth place at the winter break.

 International highlights

 The Portuguese first division side UD Leiria do not present Bayer 04 with any great problems in the first round: A 3-1 home win and a three-to victory in Portugal takes the Werkself through to the group stage. Leverkusen then progress impressively against strong opponents. Three wins against FC Toulouse (1-0), Sparta Prague (1-0) and away to FC Zurich (5-0) and just one defeat at Spartak Moscow (1-2) mean first place in Group E and a place in the Round of 32.

 A title for Bayer 04

 Bayer 04 win the 2008 sports marketing prize at the international sports fair (ISPO) in Munich. Leverkusen win the award for the Werkself campaign. "We can be rightly proud at winning this title," said Bayer 04 communications director Meinolf Sprink on this special award that is considered to be the Oscar of the sports business. The award ceremony in Munich is attended by Bayer 04 CEO Wolfgang Wolfgang Holzhäuser plus first-team players René Adler and Bernd Schneider.

 BayArena redevelopment begins

 The first diggers moving in January 2008 to start on demolition work with the West Stand at the BayArena, which should be one of the most modern stadiums in Germany and Europe by the start of the 2009/10 season. During the redevelopment work, the pros have to use newly installed dressing rooms in the North Stand and VIPs and journalists have the use of a VIP and press tent at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.

 Successful restart after winter break

 The start of the year goes brilliantly for Bayer 04 on the pitch. The team collect 14 points from the first seven games in the Bundesliga and are in third place on matchday 24, just one point behind Hamburg in second place and six behind league leaders Bayern Munich.

 End of the road in St. Petersburg

 Bayer 04 reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup after impressive performances against Galatasaray (0-0 and 5-1) and Hamburg SV (1-0 and 2-3). Leverkusen got out in the last eight to the eventual winners of the UEFA Cup Zenit St Petersburg 5-1 on aggregate.

21 February 2008: 5-1 win against Galatasaray. Sergej Barbarez makes it 3-0.

12 March 2008: After qualifying for the quarter-finals at Hamburg SV.

Bayern marks a change

The 2-1 defeat at Bayer Munich on matchday 25 is the start of a downward trend for Bayer 04. The Werkself lose seven of the last ten matches. There are only two wins (3-0 against Stuttgart, 2-1 at Rostock). Ahead of the last matchday Leverkusen are still in fourth place and in the best position in the race for the UEFA Cup place going into the 'final' against Werder Bremen. However, a 1-0 defeat against the league runners-up ends the dream of European competition.

Departure of Carsten Ramelow

Bayer 04 say farewell to a legend before the match against Werder Bremen: Carsten Ramelow retires after 13 years at Bayer 04 with 333 Bundesliga appearances, 22 goals and 46 international caps under his belt.

Michael Skibbe leaves

Michael Skibbe departs after two and a half years at Bayer 04. The final Bundesliga results and the missed target for the season of the UEFA Cup are the reasons for going separate ways. "At the end of the day, there was a lot to say for a clean start with a new coach next season," said the Bayer 04 CEO and explaining the decision.

Bruno Labbadia arrives

Bayer 04 presented the new coach on 26 May: Bruno Labbadia, former coach of second division Greuther Fürth and former Bundesliga pro, signs a two-year contract.