Bayer 04 - The Rise
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, known simply as Bayer Leverkusen, are a football club based in Germany's Rhine-Westphalia region. Founded in 1904 by employees of the pharmaceutical company Bayer, the club drew it's name from the company and the city where it's headquarters were based.
The club has a long history of playing in Germany's top-tier division, the Bundesliga, playing their home games in the 30,000 capacity BayArena. Leverkusen are fierce rivals of FC Koln, against whom they contest the Rhien Derby. The club also has rivalries with Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munich.
Despite their long history, 'Die Werkself' only have two major honours in their trophy cabinet - the DFB-Pokal in 1993 and a European Cup in 1988. In recent times the club has consistently challenged for European qualification but regularly fallen short of any real success, despite boasting a young and talented squad.
The goal for this club must be to transform a promising squad into a powerful one capable of achieving true glory but toppling reigning giants Bayern Munich at the top of German football but will certainly be no easy task.
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