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Bayer 04 Leverkusen

2023–24 season
Administration	Fernando Carro (CEO) Simon Rolfes (Managing Director Sports)
Head coach	Xabi Alonso
Stadium	BayArena
Bundesliga	1st
DFB-Pokal	Winners
UEFA Europa League	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Victor Boniface (14) All: Victor Boniface (21)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2022–232024–25 →

The 2023–24 season was Bayer 04 Leverkusen's 120th season in existence and 45th consecutive season in the Bundesliga. They also competed in the DFB-Pokal and the UEFA Europa League.

Following a 5–0 victory over Werder Bremen on 14 April 2024, Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time in the club's history. It also marked the club's first major trophy since 1993. In addition, they became the first team in history to win the Bundesliga without losing a single match, finishing the competition with 28 wins and 6 draws.

On 9 May 2024, following a 2–2 draw against Roma in the Europa League semi-final second leg, the club set a new European record for consecutive competitive matches without a loss (49), breaking Benfica's record of 48 games unbeaten set between 1963 and 1965. In the pursuit of achieving this record, the club succeeded in netting 17 goals during stoppage time and 34 goals from the 80th minute onwards, encompassing crucial last-minute match winners or equalizers. However, Leverkusen's unbeaten run would end at 51 matches, following a 3–0 defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League final on 22 May.

On 25 May, Leverkusen won the DFB-Pokal final against Kaiserslautern and completed an undefeated domestic double, finishing their campaign with just one defeat in 53 competitive matches.

Players

First-team squad

As of 31 January 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  FIN Lukas Hradecky (captain) 2 DF  CRO Josip Stanišić (on loan from Bayern Munich) 3 DF  ECU Piero Hincapié 4 DF  GER Jonathan Tah (vice-captain) 6 DF  CIV Odilon Kossounou 7 MF  GER Jonas Hofmann 8 MF  GER Robert Andrich 9 FW  ESP Borja Iglesias (on loan from Real Betis) 10 MF  GER Florian Wirtz 12 DF  BFA Edmond Tapsoba 13 DF  BRA Arthur 14 FW  CZE Patrik Schick 17 GK  CZE Matěj Kovář 18 MF  BEL Noah Mbamba

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 MF  NGA Nathan Tella 20 DF  ESP Álex Grimaldo 21 MF  MAR Amine Adli 22 FW  NGA Victor Boniface 23 FW  CZE Adam Hložek 24 DF  NED Timothy Fosu-Mensah 25 MF  ARG Exequiel Palacios 30 DF  NED Jeremie Frimpong 31 DF  BEL Madi Monamay 32 MF  COL Gustavo Puerta 34 MF  SUI Granit Xhaka 36 GK  GER Niklas Lomb 38 FW  GER Ken Izekor 47 MF  MAR Ayman Aourir

Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  AUT Patrick Pentz (at Brøndby until 30 June 2024) — DF  TOG Sadik Fofana (at Fortuna Sittard until 30 June 2024) — MF  SWE Jardell Kanga (at De Graafschap until 30 June 2024)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ESP Iker Bravo (at Real Madrid Castilla until 30 June 2024) — FW  IRN Sardar Azmoun (at Roma until 30 June 2024)

Transfers

In

Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Source
DF	Álex Grimaldo	Benfica	Free	1 July 2023
DF	Arthur	América Mineiro	€7,000,000
MF	Jonas Hofmann	Borussia Mönchengladbach	€10,000,000	5 July 2023
MF	Granit Xhaka	Arsenal	€25,000,000	6 July 2023
FW	Victor Boniface	Union Saint-Gilloise	€20,000,000	22 July 2023
GK	Matěj Kovář	Manchester United	€5,000,000	15 August 2023
DF	Josip Stanišić	Bayern Munich	Loan	20 August 2023
MF	Nathan Tella	Southampton	€23,300,000	27 August 2023
FW	Borja Iglesias	Real Betis	Loan	27 January 2024

Out

Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
MF	Ayman Azhil	Borussia Dortmund II	Free	1 July 2023
FW	Karim Bellarabi	Free agent	Free
GK	Lennart Grill	Union Berlin	Undisclosed
GK	Andrey Lunyov	Qarabağ	Free
FW	Paulinho	Atlético Mineiro	Free
DF	Daley Sinkgraven	Las Palmas	Free
DF	Mitchel Bakker	Atalanta	€10,000,000	7 July 2023
FW	Moussa Diaby	Aston Villa	€55,000,000	22 July 2023
MF	Sadik Fofana	Fortuna Sittard	Loan	25 July 2023
MF	Kerem Demirbay	Galatasaray	€3,700,000	3 August 2023
MF	Joshua Eze	Fortuna Köln	Free	4 August 2023
GK	Patrick Pentz	Brøndby	Loan	18 August 2023
FW	Sardar Azmoun	Roma	Loan	26 August 2023
MF	Nadiem Amiri	Mainz 05	€1,000,000	31 January 2024

Pre-season and friendlies

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

29 July 2023 Friendly	Real Sociedad	1–0	Bayer Leverkusen	San Sebastián, Spain
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Méndez 42'	Report	Puerta  37' Marsenic  90+1'	Stadium: Reale Arena Attendance: 17,143 Referee: Igor Galech Apezteguía (Spain)

2 August 2023 Friendly	Marseille	1–2	Bayer Leverkusen	Marseille, France
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Touré  71' Mughe 79'	Report	Tah 15' Amiri 40' Münz  64'	Stadium: Stade Vélodrome Referee: Gaël Angoula (France)

5 August 2023 Friendly	Bayer Leverkusen	4–0	West Ham United	Leverkusen
13:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Hofmann 4' Kehrer 24' (o.g.) Boniface 38' Andrich 70' (pen.)	Report	Zouma  8' Paquetá  21' Coventry  83'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 25,325 Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Germany)

7 January 2024 Friendly	Bayer Leverkusen	4–1	Venezia	Leverkusen
15:00 CET (UTC+1)	Hložek 16', 20' Schick 33' Hofmann 54'	Report	Ellertsson  28' Olivieri 78'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 12,796 Referee: Nico Fuchs (Germany)

Competitions

Overall record

Source: Soccerway

Bundesliga

League table

1. The Bundesliga gained an additional Champions League place as a result of Germany finishing as one of the two associations with the highest UEFA coefficient points in 2023–24.

Results summary

Source: DFB

Results by round

Matches

The league fixtures were unveiled on 30 June 2023.

DFB-Pokal

Source:

UEFA Europa League

Source:

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 1 September 2023.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEV	QAR	MOL	HAC
1	Bayer Leverkusen	6	6	0	0	19	3	+16	18	Advance to round of 16		—	5–1	5–1	4–0
2	Qarabağ	6	3	1	2	7	9	−2	10	Advance to knockout round play-offs		0–1	—	1–0	2–1
3	Molde	6	2	1	3	12	12	0	7	Transfer to Europa Conference League		1–2	2–2	—	5–1
4	BK Häcken	6	0	0	6	3	17	−14	0			0–2	0–1	1–3	—

21 September 2023 1	Bayer Leverkusen	4–0	BK Häcken	Leverkusen
18:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Wirtz 10' Adli 16' Tapsoba  30' Boniface 66' Hofmann 70'	Report		Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 25,402 Referee: Manfredas Lukjančukas (Lithuania)

5 October 2023 2	Molde	1–2	Bayer Leverkusen	Molde, Norway
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Eriksen  42' Løvik  67' Breivik 87'	Report	Frimpong 14' Tella 18'	Stadium: Aker Stadion Attendance: 8,190 Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou (Greece)

26 October 2023 3	Bayer Leverkusen	5–1	Qarabağ	Leverkusen
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Wirtz 6',  15' Grimaldo 29', 55' Boniface 36' Andrich  43' Tapsoba 57'	Report	Bayramov 16' (pen.) Andrade  19' Romão  45+1' Cafarguliyev  77'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 29,039 Referee: Horațiu Feșnic (Romania)

9 November 2023 4	Qarabağ	0–1	Bayer Leverkusen	Baku, Azerbaijan
21:45 AZT (UTC+4)	Medina  25' Vešović  35' Romão  69' Gugeshashvili  90+3'	Report	Wirtz  68' Xhaka  69' Boniface 90+4' (pen.)	Stadium: Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium Attendance: 30,005 Referee: Craig Pawson (England)

30 November 2023 5	BK Häcken	0–2	Bayer Leverkusen	Gothenburg, Sweden
21:0 CET (UTC+1)		Report	Boniface 14',  25' Schick 74'	Stadium: Ullevi Attendance: 11,234 Referee: Julian Weinberger (Austria)
Note: The match was played at the Ullevi in Gothenburg, instead of BK Häcken's regular stadium, the Bravida Arena, which did not meet UEFA requirements.

14 December 2023 6	Bayer Leverkusen	5–1	Molde	Leverkusen
18:45 CET (UTC+1)	Schick 6' Tapsoba 22' Ellingsen 25' (o.g.) Tah  42' Hložek 60', 70' Grimaldo  78'	Report	Kitolano 75'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 28,504 Referee: Robert Jones (England)

Knockout phase

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 23 February 2024.

7 March 2024 First leg	Qarabağ	2–2	Bayer Leverkusen	Baku, Azerbaijan
21:45 AZT (UTC+4)	Juninho  8', 45+2' Benzia 26'	Report	Wirtz 70' Schick 90+2'	Stadium: Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium Attendance: 30,423 Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)

14 March 2024 Second leg	Bayer Leverkusen	3–2 (5–4 agg.)	Qarabağ	Leverkusen
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Schick  70', 90+3', 90+8' Frimpong 72'	Report	Zoubir 58' Cafarguliyev  63' Juninho 67',  78' Lunyov  90'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 30,210 Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2024.

11 April 2024 First leg	Bayer Leverkusen	2–0	West Ham United	Leverkusen
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Hofmann 83' Boniface 90+1'	Report	Paquetá  21' Emerson  56'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 30,210 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

18 April 2024 Second leg	West Ham United	1–1 (1–3 agg.)	Bayer Leverkusen	London, England
20:00 BST (UTC+1)	Antonio 13',  31' Bowen  72' Coufal  79' Zouma  79' Souček  85' Álvarez  90'	Report	Kossounou  5' Tah  31' Palacios  85' Kovář  87' Frimpong 89' Adli  90'	Stadium: London Stadium Attendance: 62,473 Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez (Spain)

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 March 2024, after the draw for the quarter-finals.

2 May 2024 First leg	Roma	0–2	Bayer Leverkusen	Rome, Italy
21:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Pellegrini  30' Spinazzola  75' Cristante  78'	Report	Tah  16' Wirtz 28' Andrich 73',  76' Xhaka  75'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 64,073 Referee: François Letexier (France)

9 May 2024 Second leg	Bayer Leverkusen	2–2 (4–2 agg.)	Roma	Leverkusen
20:00 BST (UTC+1)	Tapsoba  20' Tah  42' Mancini 82' (o.g.) Wirtz  89' Stanišić 90+7'	Report	Mancini  20' Pellegrini  21' Paredes  27', 43' (pen.), 66' (pen.) Zalewski  29'	Stadium: BayArena Attendance: 30,210 Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

Final

22 May 2024 Final	Atalanta	3–0	Bayer Leverkusen	Dublin, Ireland
20:00 BST (UTC+1)	Lookman 12', 26', 75' Djimsiti  22' Scamacca  35' Zappacosta  60' Koopmeiners  70'	Report	Wirtz  35' Tapsoba  67' Andrich  73'	Stadium: Aviva Stadium Attendance: 47,135 Referee: István Kovács (Romania)

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Bundesliga		DFB-Pokal		Europa League
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	FIN	Lukas Hradecky	35	0	33	0	2	0	0	0
17	GK	CZE	Matěj Kovář	17	0	1	0	4	0	12	0
36	GK	GER	Niklas Lomb	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	CRO	Josip Stanišić	38	4	13+7	3	3+2	0	9+4	1
3	DF	ECU	Piero Hincapié	43	1	16+10	1	3+2	0	10+2	0
4	DF	GER	Jonathan Tah	48	6	30+1	4	4+2	2	11	0
6	DF	CIV	Odilon Kossounou	34	1	21+1	1	2+2	0	4+4	0
12	DF	BFA	Edmond Tapsoba	46	3	23+5	0	5+1	1	11+1	2
13	DF	BRA	Arthur	5	0	2+2	0	0+1	0	0	0
20	DF	ESP	Álex Grimaldo	51	12	31+2	10	5+1	0	9+3	2
24	DF	NED	Timothy Fosu-Mensah	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	DF	NED	Jeremie Frimpong	47	14	27+4	9	5+1	2	6+4	3
31	DF	BEL	Madi Monamay	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Midfielders
7	MF	GER	Jonas Hofmann	46	8	26+6	5	3+2	1	3+6	2
8	MF	GER	Robert Andrich	45	6	18+10	4	5+1	1	8+3	1
10	MF	GER	Florian Wirtz	49	18	26+6	11	5+1	3	8+3	4
18	MF	BEL	Noah Mbamba	6	0	0+3	0	0+1	0	0+2	0
19	MF	NGA	Nathan Tella	39	6	8+16	5	1+3	0	8+3	1
21	MF	MAR	Amine Adli	42	9	8+15	3	4+2	5	11+2	1
25	MF	ARG	Exequiel Palacios	36	6	21+3	4	3	2	6+3	0
32	MF	COL	Gustavo Puerta	9	0	0+6	0	0	0	2+1	0
34	MF	SUI	Granit Xhaka	50	4	32+1	3	5+1	1	10+1	0
47	MF	MAR	Ayman Aourir	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
Forwards
9	FW	ESP	Borja Iglesias	10	0	2+5	0	0+1	0	2	0
14	FW	CZE	Patrik Schick	33	13	12+8	7	3+1	1	3+6	5
22	FW	NGA	Victor Boniface	34	21	18+5	14	2+1	2	4+4	5
23	FW	CZE	Adam Hložek	36	7	5+18	2	1+3	3	5+4	2
38	FW	GER	Ken Izekor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
Players transferred out during the season
9	FW	IRN	Sardar Azmoun	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	MF	GER	Nadiem Amiri	9	0	1+7	0	1	0	0	0
28	GK	AUT	Patrick Pentz	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: Competitions

Goalscorers

Rank	Pos.	No.	Nat.	Player	Bundesliga	DFB-Pokal	Europa League	Total
1	FW	22		Victor Boniface	14	2	5	21
2	MF	10		Florian Wirtz	11	3	4	18
3	DF	30		Jeremie Frimpong	9	2	3	14
4	FW	14		Patrik Schick	7	1	5	13
5	DF	20		Álex Grimaldo	10	0	2	12
6	MF	21		Amine Adli	4	5	1	10
7	MF	7		Jonas Hofmann	5	1	2	8
8	FW	23		Adam Hložek	2	3	2	7
9	DF	4		Jonathan Tah	4	2	0	6
	MF	19		Nathan Tella	5	0	1	6
	MF	25		Exequiel Palacios	4	2	0	6
	MF	8		Robert Andrich	4	1	1	6
13	DF	2		Josip Stanišić	3	0	1	4
	MF	34		Granit Xhaka	3	1	0	4
15	DF	12		Edmond Tapsoba	0	1	2	3
16	DF	3		Piero Hincapié	1	0	0	1
	DF	6		Odilon Kossounou	1	0	0	1
Own goals					2	0	2	4
Totals					89	24	31	144

References

1. "Bayer Leverkusen beat Werder Bremen to win the Bundesliga!". Bundesliga. 14 April 2024.
2. ^ Zelalem, Fasika (14 April 2024). "Fans storm pitch as pandemonium erupts as Leverkusen finally secure historic Bundesliga". Daily Star.
3. Whelan, Padraig (14 April 2024). "Bayer Leverkusen crowned German champions for first time". OneFootball. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
4. Rouse, Daniel (2024-04-14). "Leverkusen win 1st Bundesliga title to end Bayern's reign". theScore.com. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
5. "Legendary Leverkusen complete invincible Bundesliga season". Bundesliga. 18 May 2024.
6. "Historisch! Leverkusen als erstes Team eine Bundesliga-Saison ungeschlagen" (in German). Bundesliga. 18 May 2024.
7. Smith, Emma (9 May 2024). "Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2–2 Roma". BBC Sport.
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18. "Werkself". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
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22. "Bayer 04 sign Granit Xhaka from Arsenal". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
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27. "Bayer 04 sign centre forward Borja Iglesias on loan to the summer". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
28. "Grill Signs on Loan". 1. FC Union Berlin.
29. "Paulinho assinará com o Atlético-MG até dezembro de 2027 após empréstimo". Goal.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 1 December 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
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33. "Demirbay joins Galatasaray". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
34. "Bayer 04 youngster Eze joins Fortuna Köln". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
35. "Patrick Pentz joins Brøndby IF on loan". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
36. "Azmoun joins AS Roma on loan". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 26 August 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
37. "NADIEM AMIRI LEAVES BAYER 04 FOR MAINZ". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
38. "Spielordnung (SpOL)" [Match rules] (PDF) (in German). Deutsche Fußball Liga. p. 3. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
39. "DFL: Das ist der neue Bundesliga-Spielplan". Bild (in German). 30 June 2023.
40. ^ "El reto Guinness de Xabi Alonso: "Acabar invictos quedaría escrito en letras de oro en la historia del fútbol"". MARCA (in Spanish). 22 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.

External links

• Official website

• Bayer 04 Leverkusen seasons
• German football clubs 2023–24 season
• 2023–24 UEFA Europa League participants seasons
• German football championship–winning seasons