# 2020–21 Bayer 04 Leverkusen season

The 2020–21 season was the 117th season in the existence of Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the club's 42nd consecutive season in the top flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, Bayer 04 Leverkusen also participated in this season's edition of the DFB-Pokal as well as the UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 11 August 2020 to 30 June 2021.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 13 January 2021
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 |
| 2 | DF | COL | Santiago Arias (on loan from Atlético Madrid) |
| 4 | DF | GER | Jonathan Tah |
| 5 | MF | GER | Sven Bender |
| 6 | DF | AUT | Aleksandar Dragović |
| 7 | FW | BRA | Paulinho |
| 8 | MF | GER | Lars Bender |
| 9 | FW | JAM | Leon Bailey |
| 10 | MF | GER | Kerem Demirbay |
| 11 | MF | GER | Nadiem Amiri |
| 12 | DF | BFA | Edmond Tapsoba |
| 13 | FW | ARG | Lucas Alario |
| 14 | FW | CZE | Patrik Schick |
| 15 | MF | AUT | Julian Baumgartlinger |
| 16 | DF | CRO | Tin Jedvaj |
| 18 | DF | BRA | Wendell |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | FRA | Moussa Diaby |
| 20 | MF | CHI | Charles Aránguiz (captain) |
| 21 | GK | GER | Lennart Grill |
| 22 | DF | NED | Daley Sinkgraven |
| 23 | DF | GER | Mitchell Weiser |
| 24 | DF | NED | Timothy Fosu-Mensah |
| 25 | MF | ARG | Exequiel Palacios |
| 27 | MF | GER | Florian Wirtz |
| 28 | FW | ENG | Demarai Gray |
| 30 | MF | NED | Jeremie Frimpong |
| 32 | FW | TUR | Samed Onur |
| 36 | GK | GER | Niklas Lomb |
| 37 | FW | GER | Emrehan Gedikli |
| 38 | MF | GER | Karim Bellarabi |
| 39 | MF | TUR | Cem Türkmen |

### 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 |
| – | MF | MAR | Ayman Azhil (at RKC Waalwijk until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | FIN | Joel Pohjanpalo (at Union Berlin until 30 June 2021) |
| — | DF | GRE | Panagiotis Retsos (at Saint-Étienne until 30 June 2021) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| 14 | FW | Patrik Schick | Roma | €26,500,000 | 8 September 2020 |
| 2 | DF | Santiago Arias | Atlético Madrid | Loan | 24 September 2020 |
| 24 | DF | Timothy Fosu-Mensah | Manchester United | €1,700,000 | 13 January 2021 |
| 30 | DF | Jeremie Frimpong | Celtic | €11,000,000 | 27 January 2021 |
| 28 | FW | Demarai Gray | Leicester City | €2,000,000 | 31 January 2021 |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| 28 | GK | Ramazan Özcan | | Retired | 11 August 2020 |
| 30 | MF | Adrian Stanilewicz | SV Darmstadt 98 | Free | 22 August 2020 |
| | MF | Ayman Azhil | RKC Waalwijk | Loan | 31 August 2020 |
| 31 | FW | Kevin Volland | Monaco | €15,500,000 | 2 September 2020 |
| 29 | MF | Kai Havertz | Chelsea | €79,600,000 | 4 September 2020 |
| 17 | FW | Joel Pohjanpalo | Union Berlin | Loan | 30 September 2020 |
| 3 | DF | Panagiotis Retsos | Saint-Étienne | Loan | 5 October 2020 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Bundesliga | 20 September 2020 | 22 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 6th | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 53 | 39 | +14 | 041.18 |
| DFB-Pokal | 13 September 2020 | 2 February 2021 | First round | Round of 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 066.67 |
| UEFA Europa League | 22 October 2020 | 25 February 2021 | Group stage | Round of 32 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 062.50 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 45 | 21 | 10 | 14 | 89 | 56 | +33 | 046.67 |
Source: Soccerway

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 4 | VfL Wolfsburg | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 61 | 37 | +24 | 61 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 5 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 69 | 53 | +16 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 6 | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 53 | 39 | +14 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 7 | Union Berlin | 34 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 50 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round |
| 8 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 49 | |
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal, Borussia Dortmund, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot was passed to the sixth-placed team, and the Europa Conference League play-off round spot was passed to the seventh-placed team.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: DFB

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | L | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | W | L | W | D | D | L |
| Position | 10 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 7 August 2020.

### UEFA Europa League
#### Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LEV | SLP | HBS | NCE |
| 1 | Bayer Leverkusen | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 15 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–0 | 4–1 | 6–2 |
| 2 | Slavia Prague | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 12 | Advance to knockout phase | 1–0 | — | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| 3 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 6 | | 2–4 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Nice | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 3 | | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 | — |

#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2020.

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | Europa League | Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | FIN | Lukas Hradecky | 37 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | GER | Lennart Grill | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | GK | GER | Niklas Lomb | 5 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | COL | Santiago Arias | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | GER | Jonathan Tah | 35 | 1 | 24+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | AUT | Aleksandar Dragović | 29 | 2 | 11+7 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 7+1 | 1 |
| 12 | DF | BFA | Edmond Tapsoba | 39 | 2 | 29+2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | CRO | Tin Jedvaj | 8 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | BRA | Wendell | 30 | 0 | 15+7 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | NED | Daley Sinkgraven | 27 | 0 | 19+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | GER | Mitchell Weiser | 5 | 1 | 2+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | NED | Timothy Fosu-Mensah | 7 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | NED | Jeremie Frimpong | 13 | 0 | 4+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | GER | Sven Bender | 20 | 0 | 14+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | GER | Lars Bender | 20 | 2 | 12+2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | GER | Kerem Demirbay | 37 | 5 | 20+9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | GER | Nadiem Amiri | 39 | 5 | 20+9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6+2 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | AUT | Julian Baumgartlinger | 24 | 3 | 12+5 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 | 4+1 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | CHI | Charles Aránguiz | 25 | 1 | 20+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | ARG | Exequiel Palacios | 13 | 0 | 7+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | GER | Florian Wirtz | 38 | 8 | 25+4 | 5 | 1+1 | 1 | 5+2 | 2 |
| 38 | MF | GER | Karim Bellarabi | 29 | 3 | 7+15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4+1 | 3 |
| 39 | MF | TUR | Cem Türkmen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | BRA | Paulinho | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | JAM | Leon Bailey | 40 | 15 | 25+5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6+2 | 5 |
| 13 | FW | ARG | Lucas Alario | 33 | 15 | 12+13 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 4+1 | 2 |
| 14 | FW | CZE | Patrik Schick | 36 | 13 | 20+9 | 9 | 1+1 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 19 | FW | FRA | Moussa Diaby | 43 | 10 | 28+4 | 4 | 1+2 | 2 | 4+4 | 4 |
| 28 | FW | ENG | Demarai Gray | 12 | 1 | 5+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | TUR | Samed Onur | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | GER | Emrehan Gedikli | 4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 3 | DF | GRE | Panagiotis Retsos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | FIN | Joel Pohjanpalo | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 22 May 2021 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

| Rank | Pos | No. | Nat | Name | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | UEFA EL | Total |
| 1 | FW | 9 | | Leon Bailey | 9 | 1 | 5 | 15 |
| 1 | FW | 13 | | Lucas Alario | 11 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
| 3 | FW | 14 | | Patrik Schick | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 |
| 4 | FW | 19 | | Moussa Diaby | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | MF | 27 | | Florian Wirtz | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 6 | MF | 10 | | Kerem Demirbay | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | MF | 11 | | Nadiem Amiri | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | MF | 15 | | Julian Baumgartlinger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | 38 | | Karim Bellarabi | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | DF | 6 | | Aleksandar Dragović | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | MF | 8 | | Lars Bender | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | DF | 12 | | Edmond Tapsoba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | DF | 4 | | Jonathan Tah | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | 20 | | Charles Aránguiz | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | DF | 23 | | Mitchell Weiser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | FW | 28 | | Demarai Gray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 53 | 12 | 24 | 89 |
Last updated: 22 May 2021