Bayer Leverkusen Football: Die Werkself, the 2023-24 Unbeaten Champions and Their African Stars

Bayer Leverkusen, known formally as Bayer 04 Leverkusen, are a German Bundesliga football club founded on 1 July 1904 as a works team for employees of the Bayer company. In 2023-24 they became the first club to finish a Bundesliga season unbeaten, winning their first league title and then the DFB-Pokal under Xabi Alonso. Whether you call the game soccer in Johannesburg or football in Lagos, that season brought their first Bundesliga championship and a domestic double.

This guide explains who the club are, what they have won, where the Neverkusen name came from, how Bayer AG fits in, and the Nigerians and other Africans tied to the shirt. Scores and dates move with every match, so use the Bayer Leverkusen fixtures and the table module for the live picture, while the kick-off times below are set out in WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT.

Who Are Bayer Leverkusen, Die Werkself?

Bayer Leverkusen are the Bundesliga club of Leverkusen, a city in western Germany, and their nickname Die Werkself means The Factory XI. The name goes back to the founding on 1 July 1904, when the club began as a works team for employees of the Bayer company. Supporters also call them Die Schwarzroten, The Black and Reds, after the club colours. For a reader in Accra or Kampala, the closest picture is a company staff team that kept growing until it could stand beside the biggest names in German football. The football department was separated from the parent sports club in 1999 and now runs as a subsidiary of Bayer AG.

How Did Xabi Alonso Make Leverkusen Unbeaten Champions in 2023-24?

When appointed in October 2022, Xabi Alonso took over a side in the relegation zone and, inside two seasons, built the first unbeaten champions in Bundesliga history. In 2023-24 Leverkusen completed their unbeaten Bundesliga campaign. It was their first Bundesliga title, the only league championship in the club's 120 years at that point, and they followed it with the DFB-Pokal for a domestic double.

The defining match for Nigerian fans, though, came at the end of that same season, and it went the other way. Leverkusen lost the 2024 Europa League final 3-0 to Atalanta, with Ademola Lookman scoring a hat-trick, and the defeat ended a 52-game unbeaten run. So, a Lagos viewing centre that night could cheer a Super Eagles forward and admire the beaten side in the same breath. In my opinion, that is the fairest way to remember it, because Lookman scored three goals in the 2024 final while Leverkusen still left the season with two trophies and their place as the first unbeaten Bundesliga champions. Alonso left at the end of 2024-25 to become Real Madrid's manager.

What Have Bayer Leverkusen Won, and Where Does Neverkusen Come From?

Leverkusen's major honours, up to and including 2023-24, are the UEFA Cup in 1987-88, the DFB-Pokal in 1992-93 and 2023-24, and the Bundesliga title in 2023-24. The UEFA Cup was the first of them, and it came the hard way, because they lost the first leg of the final 3-0 to Espanyol before turning the tie round and winning on penalties. That comeback tells you something about the club's character that the record book alone does not. The records module tracks the honours list as it grows, so it is the place to check if a new trophy has been added since 2024.

The Neverkusen nickname was coined by English-language media after the 2002 season, when Leverkusen came close on more than one front and lost the Champions League final 2-1 to Real Madrid. It could be argued that the name always said as much about how good they were as about what they missed, because a club only keeps finishing second in big competitions by living near the top. For two decades the label followed them, rather like a nickname from secondary school that friends still use at weddings. But, the unbeaten double of 2023-24 gave supporters a far better story to tell, and the old name now reads as the long build up to that season.

Where Do Leverkusen Play?

Leverkusen play their home matches at the BayArena, a stadium with a capacity of 30,210 in the city of Leverkusen in western Germany. The fixtures module identifies matches at the BayArena as home fixtures.

Why Does Bayer AG Own Leverkusen?

Leverkusen were founded on 1 July 1904 as a works team for employees of the Bayer company. In 1999, the football department was separated from the parent sports club and became a subsidiary of Bayer AG.

Which Nigerian and African Players Are Linked With Leverkusen?

Victor Boniface is the strongest Nigerian link, a striker who joined from Union SG in 2023 and was part of the squad that won the unbeaten title in 2023-24. Nathan Tella, another Nigeria international, has also been in the Leverkusen squad, so a Super Eagles fan following the Bundesliga has had real reasons to watch the club. Ademola Lookman adds a twist, because his 2024 Europa League final hat-trick came against them. As such, Nigerian feelings about Leverkusen are mixed, and I think that is a healthy thing, since it means Nigerians sit on both sides of the club's biggest European story.

Beyond Nigeria, the club's squad listing has included Edmond Tapsoba of Burkina Faso, Guéla Doué of Ivory Coast, Christian Kofane of Cameroon, Eliesse Ben Seghir of Morocco and Ibrahim Maza of Algeria. To follow Leverkusen's African representation through transfers, consult the squad module for player names and nationalities. For readers in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, the pull is the Bundesliga itself and the 2024 story rather than a national tie, and a single signing from any of those countries would change that quickly.

The wider list of famous names helps explain why Leverkusen draw neutral fans. Michael Ballack drove the run to the 2002 Champions League final, while Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka were central figures in the 2023-24 title side. For the Super Eagles, the question I always ask is what a club means for the Nigerians in it, and the answer here is simple: a Nigerian forward playing regularly for a side used to European competition arrives at international camps sharper for it. So, every Leverkusen team sheet with a Nigerian name on it is worth a look from Lagos.

How Can You Follow Leverkusen, and What Time Do They Kick Off in Africa?

Leverkusen kick-offs land at comfortable hours across Africa, though the gap shifts during the year because Germany changes its clocks and our countries do not. In winter, when Germany runs on CET, a German kick-off shows the same clock time in Lagos, an hour later in Johannesburg, two hours later in Nairobi and Kampala, and an hour earlier in Accra. In summer, on CEST, every African time moves an hour earlier against Germany, so a German evening game reads the same time in Johannesburg as it does at the BayArena. The table below gives the usual slots, and the fixtures module always shows the confirmed local time for each match.

Most fans across these five countries follow on mobile, with live scores on apps and matches on whichever broadcaster holds the Bundesliga rights in their country, and because rights change, the country sections carry those details rather than the main text. The table module shows where Leverkusen stand (the log, if you are in Johannesburg), and the results module records how each game finished. If you read the competition, venue and local time together before planning your evening, you will rarely be caught out by a Champions League night that starts later than a Saturday league match.

From Works Team to Unbeaten Champions: Leverkusen History in Brief

The club was founded on 1 July 1904 as a works team for employees of the Bayer company, and for much of the twentieth century it grew steadily rather than spectacularly. The first major honour arrived in 1987-88, when Leverkusen won the UEFA Cup by recovering from a 3-0 first leg defeat against Espanyol and winning on penalties. The DFB-Pokal followed in 1992-93, the club's first German cup. In 1999 the football department was separated from the parent sports club and became a subsidiary of Bayer AG, the structure it keeps today.

The 2002 season brought the Champions League final, a 2-1 defeat by Real Madrid, and the Neverkusen nickname that English-language media attached to the club afterwards. Xabi Alonso was appointed head coach in October 2022 with the side in the relegation zone, and in 2023-24 Leverkusen won the Bundesliga unbeaten before adding the DFB-Pokal. In the 2024 Europa League final, Leverkusen lost 3-0 to Atalanta, with Lookman scoring a hat-trick. Alonso then left at the end of 2024-25 for Real Madrid, closing the chapter that rewrote the club's reputation.

Is Leverkusen the Club or the City?

Leverkusen is both a city in western Germany and the short name most fans use for the football club, so a search for leverkusen from Nairobi or Accra almost always means Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Bayer part of the full name is the company that founded the club in 1904 and still owns it, while the 04 marks the founding year. In commentary you will hear Leverkusen, Bayer Leverkusen and Die Werkself used for the same team, much as Lagos fans move between Manchester United, United and the Red Devils without a second thought. If you came looking for the club, the fixtures, table and results modules above hold everything that changes with each match.