Bayer Leverkusen's top 5 wins against Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen have met a total of 105 times in competitive matches, and we could be in for a repeat of last season's UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie should the two sides be drawn against each other again on Friday.

Here we look at Leverkusen's most memorable wins against the Bundesliga record champions:

Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Bayern Munich, 1996/97 Matchday 21

You have to go back to 1997 for Leverkusen’s most comprehensive victory over Bayern, as a team featuring Niko and Robert Kovač, Paulo Sergio and Jens Nowotny raced into a 3-0 half-time lead, with the Brazilian attacker opening the scoring against his future employers inside just five minutes.

Markus Feldhoff wrote his name into Leverkusen folklore with a hat-trick against Bayern in 1997. - imago images/Uwe Kraft

Christian Nerlinger and Mario Basler got two back for Bayern at the BayArena, before striker Markus Feldhoff – keeping the legendary Ulf Kirsten on the bench, alongside Claudio Reyna – struck twice in the closing minutes to bag a hat-trick and a famous win for the then third-placed Werkself over the league leaders.

Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 Bayern Munich, 2004/05 Matchday 3

The summer of 2004 had seen World Cup winner Lúcio follow the path previously taken a few years earlier by Michael Ballack in making the move from Leverkusen to Munich, but there was little the Brazilian could do early in the 2004/05 season as a Werkself side spearheaded by Dimitar Berbatov and França ran riot at the BayArena.

The Bulgarian opened the scoring in the first half before his Brazilian strike partner hit two in quick succession after the restart to take the game beyond Bayern. Berbatov then scored his second and Leverkusen’s fourth with an hour gone, with Ballack’s goal six minutes from time nothing more than a consolation against a Bayer team coached by former Bayern captain Klaus Augenthaler.

Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 Bayern Munich, 2008/09 DFB Cup quarter-final

A result that holds a place in Bayer folklore, as it was the first time they had ever beaten Germany’s most successful side in a cup competition. Construction work at the BayArena meant this quarter-final tie was actually played up the Rhine in Düsseldorf, but it didn’t negatively impact the hosts.

After a goalless first half, things burst into life as Leverkusen struck three times in the space of 16 minutes through Tranquillo Barnetta, Arturo Vidal and Patrick Helmes. It was 3-2 only four minutes later thanks to Lucio and Miroslav Klose, but Leverkusen could finally breathe again when Stefan Kießling netted two minutes into added time to settle things. Bayern would not lose another DFB Cup game away from home (excluding penalty shootouts) until 2021, when they were beaten 5-0 at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Bayern Munich 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen, 2019/20 Matchday 13

Robert Lewandowski had scored on each of the first 11 matchdays, but the defending champions were down in third place and Niko Kovač had been dismissed following a 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 10. Hansi Flick had come in and beaten both Borussia Dortmund and Fortuna Düsseldorf 4-0 in his first two Bundesliga fixtures, as well as 2-0 and 6-0 wins over Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade respectively.

Watch: Bayern 1-2 Leverkusen - highlights

However, a resurgent Bayern were no match for Jamaican winger Leon Bailey, who produced two excellent finishes on the break to pounce on errors by the champions. Thomas Müller cancelled out Bailey’s tenth-minute opener on 34 minutees, but Bailey restored the advantage only seconds later with a well-placed finish across Manuel Neuer. Lukas Hradecky produced a string of saves to deny the previously rampant Bavarians as Leverkusen inflicted a first defeat on Flick as Bayern boss – and one of only two in all competitions under the ex-Germany coach in the 2019/20 campaign.

Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Bayern Munich, 2023/24 Matchday 22

Leverkusen and Bayern had already played out a thrilling 2-2 draw on Matchday 4 by the time they met five months later and, for one of the first times in meetings between the two teams, the North-Rhine Westphalia outfit were arguably favourites. After 20 games, the unbeaten Werkself found themselves two points clear of the Bavarians at the top of the table.

Watch: Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Bayern Munich - highlights

Many expected it to be another close and tense affair, but it proved to be anything but. The hosts were in front inside 18 minutes, ironically through Bayern loanee Josip Stanišić, and from that position of authority, they never looked back. Further goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong added extra gloss to the scoreline as Leverkusen moved five points clear to take a huge step towards their maiden Meisterschale.

Watch: Understanding the Bayern-Leverkusen rivalry

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