Leverkusen’s soaring: Bayer’s impressive path under coach Hjulmand

As of: November 27, 2025 2:25 p.m

The win against Manchester City showed at the latest: Kasper Hjulmand has made Bayer Leverkusen a top team again. Now comes the double pack in the league and cup against Borussia Dortmund.

Kasper Hjulmand couldn’t stop marveling and raving. “A night that we will remember for a long time,” said Leverkusen’s coach, summing up the successful trip to the island on Tuesday. Hjulmand continued his remarkable run with the surprising 2-0 win in the Champions League at Manchester City Bayer Leverkusen continued.

Victory “not immediately expected”

In 15 competitive games under Hjulmand, the “Werkself” only lost against Paris St. Germain and FC Bayern Munich. “You have to learn from these games and get stronger – that’s what we did,” said sports director Simon Rolfes. After the 3-0 defeat at the record champions at the beginning of November, four competitive games followed, which Leverkusen won in impressive fashion with a total goal difference of 12:1.

Thanks to the recent three-pointer, which they “didn’t immediately expect” in Leverkusen, their chances of reaching the knockout round in the Champions League have increased significantly. “We have so much potential, we can get even better. A win like against City is fuel for our development,” said Hjulmand.

Hjulmand with Club record

And also in the Bundesliga the positive trend can be seen in the table. For the first time this season, Leverkusen is ranked in the Champions League and also for the first time this season, Leverkusen is better placed than its upcoming opponent Borussia Dortmund.

The early change of coach after just two match days caused unrest that in previous years had only been known from the neighbors on the other side of the Rhine. From a sporting point of view, however, it was a direct hit. Since Hjulmand took office, only FC Bayern scored more points, celebrated more victories and scored more goals than Leverkusen. No other Bayer coach won as many league games as the 53-year-old Dane (seven out of nine games). Hjulmand’s 22 points from nine Bundesliga games are a club record.

Grimaldo and Garcia in new leadership roles

In a very short time, Hjulmand managed to form a unit from a squad that had been newly put together in the summer. Alejandro Grimaldo leads the young team as a mix of left-back and playmaker with eight goals and five assists. Granit Xhaka was replaced by midfield strategist Aleix Garcia, and new signing Loic Badé makes Jonathan Tah, who moved to Munich, forgotten in central defense. The 25-year-old Frenchman is the best tackler in the league with a rate of over 71 percent. Last season it was Jonathan Tah.

Double pack against BVB in the league and cup

With a lot of tailwind, Leverkusen will welcome BVB in the top game on Saturday (6.30 p.m.). Dortmund was also successful in the Champions League during the week and celebrated a clear 4-0 home win against Villareal. In the Bundesliga, however, Nico Kovac’s team is lagging behind its demands. BVB recently gave up late victories against HSV (1:1) and VfB Stuttgart (3:3). However, there have never been three Bundesliga games without a win in a row under Kovac.

Just three days after the Bundesliga duel, the two teams meet again. A strange novelty occurs in the round of 16 of the DFB Cup: In the 210th Dortmund Cup game, the opponent is Bayer Leverkusen for the first time ever (live from 8:15 p.m. on Erste or in the live stream on Sportschau.de).

Kasper Hjulmand and his Leverkusen team have the momentum on their side. And the cohesion is likely to have grown again after the unexpected success in Manchester.

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