Bayer 04 Leverkusen
German association football club / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH (German: [ˌbaɪ̯ɐ ˈleːvɐˌkuːzn̩]) and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.[5] The club competes in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, and plays its home matches at the BayArena.[1][6]
Full name | Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH | |||
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Nickname(s) | Die Werkself (The Company's Eleven)[citation needed] Die Schwarzroten (The Black and Reds)[citation needed] | |||
Founded | 1 July 1904; 119 years ago (1904-07-01) | |||
Ground | BayArena[1] | |||
Capacity | 30,210[2] | |||
Owner | Bayer AG[3] | |||
Administration | Fernando Carro [de] (chairman)[4] Simon Rolfes (sporting director)[3] | |||
Head coach | Xabi Alonso | |||
League | Bundesliga | |||
2022–23 | Bundesliga, 6th of 18 | |||
Website | Club website | |||
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Current season |
The club was founded in 1904 by employees of the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, whose headquarters are in Leverkusen and from which the club draws its name. It was formerly the best-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball, field handball and other sports including the RTHC Bayer Leverkusen (rowing, tennis and hockey). In 1999, the football department was separated from the sports club and is now a separate entity formally called Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH.[6] Bayer were first promoted to the Bundesliga in 1979, and have remained in the top division ever since. The club's main colours are red and black, both having been used as the main shirt colour and with red and black stripes also having been used as home colours.
Leverkusen have won one Bundesliga,[7] one DFB-Pokal, and one UEFA Cup.[8] They also finished runners-up in the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, losing 2–1 to Real Madrid in the final. They hold the European record for unbeaten competitive games, currently standing at 50. Their local rivals are 1. FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Fortuna Düsseldorf.[9]