What to expect from Leverkusen in R16 game

Leverkusen spent big in the summer to try and replace some huge names, including the three most expensive signings in their history – USA international midfielder Malik Tillman from PSV Eindhoven, Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah and Eliesse Ben Seghir from Monaco. However, their main threat remains Czech striker Patrick Schick, who finished as the top scorer at Euro 2024 and has 13 goals to his name this term.

As he did during the title-winning campaign two years ago, Alex Grimaldo [above] has also hit double figures from left-wing back, while fellow Spanish international Aleix Garcia was formerly of Manchester City. Another name familiar with the Premier League is goalkeeper Mark Flekken who arrived from Brentford to be Leverkusen’s number one, while Nathan Tella was part of our academy before making a name for himself at Southampton and Burnley.

Defensive midfielder Robert Andrich is captain and a regular in the German national side, while centre-back Loic Bade was capped by France for the first time last year. Veteran right-back Lucas Vázquez won five Champions League titles with Real Madrid before arriving in Leverkusen in the summer, and central midfielder Exequiel Palacios was a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022.Following Alonso’s departure, Leverkusen’s title-winning side has continued to break up. Florian Wirtz moved to Liverpool for a then-British record £116 deal, while Jeremie Frimpong also headed to Anfield, while Granit Xhaka (Sunderland), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Amin Adli (Bournemouth), Lukas Hradecky (Monaco) and Victor Boniface (Werder Bremen) also departed, while Piero Hincapie headed on loan to us. 

In their place, a dozen new faces arrived, with Erik ten Hag appointed as Alonso’s successor but he lasted just three games at the helm – the fastest sacking in Bundesliga history – before Hjulmand was parachuted in. After a sluggish start, Leverkusen reached the winter break in third place, but have only won four of the 10 games since the restart to leave them in sixth, three points off Champions League qualification. 

They finished 16th in the league phase with a mixed bag of results, including losing 7-2 at home to holders Paris Saint-Germain, beating Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad and drawing 2-2 with Newcastle United with a late equaliser. Having lost to Olympiacos in the league phase, they beat them 2-0 on aggregate to reach this stage. They have also reached the semi-finals of the German Cup again, where Bayern Munich await – the side they’ll also tackle in the league between the two legs of our last 16 tie..