However, Cha transferred to Bayer Leverkusen due to a financial difficulty of Frankfurt in 1983. In the 1985–86 Bundesliga, he scored 17 goals, his most goals in a single Bundesliga season, and Leverkusen qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time by finishing sixth. The magazine "kicker" once again selected him for the Team of the Season. In the 1988 UEFA Cup Final he scored a dramatic equaliser against Espanyol to tie the game 3–3. Leverkusen eventually went on to win the game on penalties, and held the European title for the first time. In 1989, Cha retired after the Bundesliga career spanning 308 games, in which he scored 98 goals without a penalty goal and received only one yellow card. He scored his 93rd goal in the Bundesliga on 31 October 1987, and became the top foreign goalscorer by surpassing predecessor Willi Lippens's 92 goals. Cha's record was not broken for eleven years until a Swiss striker Stéphane Chapuisat scored his 99th goal on 4 October 1998. As of 2018, Cha is ranked seventh along with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the foreign goalscorer standings of Bundesliga history.