Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan facts

Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan meet in Germany on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Champions League after contrasting fortunes in their opening fixtures.

While the German champions won 4-0 at Feyenoord – their biggest away victory in the Champions League – Milan went down 1-3 at home to Liverpool in a repeat of the 2005 and 2007 finals.

This is the clubs' first meeting.

Form guide

Leverkusen

Record vs Italian clubs: W6 D7 L15 F32 A47
Home record vs Italian clubs: W4 D4 L5

Leverkusen's last game against Italian opponents was the 0-3 loss to Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League final at the Dublin Arena on 22 May – their only defeat in 53 games in all competitions last season.

Xabi Alonso's side had beaten Roma 4-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals (2-0 a, 2-2 h), that second-leg draw making it five games without a win at home to Italian visitors (D3 L2) since a 3-0 defeat of Lazio in the 2015/16 Champions League play-offs second leg.

The first-leg win at Roma last season is Leverkusen's only victory in their last 12 games against Serie A sides – a run that includes eight defeats.

Leverkusen are featuring in the Champions League proper for the 14th time – although only the third in eight seasons.

Their most recent campaign came in 2022/23, when they were third in their section behind Porto and Club Brugge and went on to reach the UEFA Europa League semi-finals before losing 1-0 on aggregate against Roma.

Leverkusen went one step further in last season's Europa League, finishing first in their section with maximum points before battling past Qarabağ (5-4 on aggregate), West Ham (3-1 agg) and Roma to reach the final, where Atalanta proved too strong.

The German club won five of their six home games in Europe last season and are unbeaten in nine (W6 D3).

Leverkusen have lost only two of their last 21 European games (W14 D5) – against Roma and Atalanta.

Alonso guided Die Werkself to a first-ever Bundesliga title in 2023/24 and also oversaw a German Cup victory, only Leverkusen's second in the competition.

Leverkusen have not reached the Champions League knockout rounds since 2016/17.

Milan

Record vs German clubs: W17 D12 L10 F61 A47
Away record vs German clubs: W4 D8 L6

Milan were paired with Borussia Dortmund in last season's group stage, drawing 0-0 away and losing 1-3 at home to make it five games without a win against German clubs (D4 L1).

The home defeat by Dortmund ended the Rossoneri's ten-game unbeaten run against German opponents (W3 D7), since a 0-1 home defeat by Dortmund in March 2003.

A 4-0 loss in Dortmund in April 2002 is Milan's last defeat in Germany; they have won three of their subsequent seven games away to Bundesliga clubs.

The Rossoneri are making their fourth successive appearance in the Champions League and a 21st overall.

Milan were Champions League winners in 1994, 2003 and 2007 and runners-up in 1993, 1995 and 2005. They are the only Italian side to triumph more than once in the Champions League era.

The seven-time European champions reached the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14 in 2022/23 but last season finished third behind Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain in Group F.

Milan have won only nine of their last 32 Champions League games (D9 L14). Last season's 2-1 Matchday 6 victory at Newcastle was only their fourth in 17 away games, group stage to final (D6 L7).

Stefano Pioli's side beat Rennes (5-3 on aggregate) and Slavia Praha (7-3 agg) in their first two Europa League ties in 2023/24, but then lost an all-Italian quarter-final against Roma (0-1 h, 1-2 a).

Milan were second in Serie A in 2023/24, 19 points behind champions Inter. It was the third time in four seasons they had finished in the top two.

Pioli was replaced in the summer after five years as Milan coach, Paulo Fonseca appointed as his successor.

Links and trivia

Milan's German defender Malick Thiaw played for Leverkusen at youth level between 2010 and 2011.

Alonso scored Liverpool's third goal in the 2005 Champions League final against Milan, turning in the rebound after his penalty had been saved by Dida. The English club came from three goals down to draw 3-3 before winning 3-2 on penalties in Istanbul.

The Leverkusen coach played with Álvaro Morata at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2014.

Have also played together:
Patrik Schick & Alessandro Florenzi (Roma 2017–19)
Christian Pulišić & Jonas Hofmann (Dortmund 2015/16)
Granit Xhaka & Ismaël Bennacer (Arsenal 2016/17)

Has played in Italy:
Patrik Schick (Sampdoria 2016/17, Roma 2017–19)

International team-mates:
Granit Xhaka & Noah Okafor (Switzerland)
Jeremie Frimpong & Tijjani Reijnders (Netherlands)
Alejandro Grimaldo, Aleix García & Álvaro Morata (Spain)
Victor Boniface, Nathan Tella & Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria)

Christian Pulišić scored in Dortmund's 6-2 Bundesliga win at home to Leverkusen on 4 March 2017.

Latest news

Leverkusen

Xabi Alonso's side have three wins, a draw and a defeat from their first five games in this season's Bundesliga. On Saturday they drew 1-1 at Bayern München.

Leverkusen have conceded ten goals in their first five league games; they let in 24 in 34 in 2023/24.

Bayer had scored four goals in each of their previous three games.

Florian Wirtz had scored in three successive games, four goals in total, before drawing a blank at Bayern; he has four in five Bundesliga appearances.

A 2-3 loss at home to Leipzig on 31 August, a game in which they led 2-0, was Leverkusen's first league defeat since 27 May 2023 and ended a 35-match unbeaten Bundesliga run.

Milan

On Friday first-half goals from Álvaro Morata, Theo Hernández and Christian Pulišić helped Milan to a 3-0 victory home victory against Lecce.

Hernández has now scored 29 Serie A goals for Milan, equalling Paolo Maldini's club record for a defender.

A late header from defender Matteo Gabbia gave Milan a 2-1 win at neighbours Inter on 22 September – ending the Rossoneri's run of six successive derby defeats.

Milan are the top scorers in Serie A with 14 goals in six games.

Davide Calabria has been out with a thigh injury since Matchday 1.

Ismaël Bennacer suffered a serious calf injury while on international duty with Algeria and could be out for up to three months.

Alessandro Florenzi has not played since suffering a serious knee injury in August. Marco Sportiello is also sidelined by a hand injury he suffered in pre-season.