Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Praha facts

Bayer Leverkusen's final home game in the league phase pits them against Sparta Praha.

While the German champions sealed their place in the knockout phase on Matchday 7 despite a 2-1 loss at Atlético de Madrid that left them on 13 points, Sparta can no longer progress having lost their last five games after taking four points from the first two, losing 0-1 at home to Inter Milan in the most recent.

Previous meetings

2007/08 UEFA Cup group stage
Leverkusen 1-0 Sparta
Michael Skibbe’s side booked their place in the round of 32 despite Carsten Ramelow's red card on 60 minutes, Manuel Freidrich heading the only goal with 19 minutes left.

Form guide

Bayer Leverkusen

Record vs Czech clubs: W5 D2 L2 F17 A4
Home record vs Czech clubs: W4 D1 L0

Leverkusen's last games against Czech opponents came in the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League group stage, losing 1-0 at Slavia Praha before a 4-0 home success.

Die Werkself have five victories in their last seven fixtures against teams from Czechia.

The German club are on a run of four successive home wins against Czech visitors with 12 goals scored and none conceded.

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 Europa League semi-finals before losing 1-0 on aggregate against Roma.

Xabi Alonso's 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 (4-2 agg) to reach the final, where they lost 3-0 to Atalanta in Dublin.

Leverkusen have won eight of their last nine home games in Europe and are unbeaten in 12 (W9 D3), beating AC Milan (1-0), Salzburg (5-0) and Inter Milan (1-0) this season.

This season's losses at Liverpool on Matchday 4 (0-4) and Atleti on Matchday 7 have made it four in Leverkusen's last 27 European games (W17 D6).

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.

This is the first time Leverkusen have reached the Champions League knockout rounds since 2016/17.

Sparta Praha

Record vs German clubs: W4 D5 L5 F15 A18
Away record vs German clubs: W1 D4 L3

Sparta have already played in Germany in the league phase, drawing 1-1 at Stuttgart on Matchday 2.

That made it one win in Sparta's last ten games against Bundesliga clubs (D5 L4), a 1-0 home victory against Hertha Berlin in the 1999/2000 Champions League second group stage. The Czech club had won three of their first four games against German clubs.

Sparta have drawn four of their last five games in Germany, losing the other.

Sparta featured in the Champions League group stage seven times, one more than all the other Czech clubs combined – although their last appearance came in 2005/06, the seventh time in nine seasons they had made it that far.

The Prague club subsequently lost nine times in qualifying – including in 2023/24, when they were eliminated on penalties by Copenhagen in the third qualifying round (0-0 a, 3-3 h aet, 2-4 pens).

Sparta therefore moved into the Europa League and finished second in their section before eliminating Galatasaray in the knockout round play-offs (2-3 a, 4-1 h) only for Liverpool to prove too strong in the last 16 (1-5 h, 1-6 a).

Rudí started this season in the Champions League second qualifying round, defeating Shamrock Rovers (2-0 a, 4-2 h) before getting the better of FCSB (1-1 h, 3-2 a). Sparta sealed their return to the competition proper after 19 seasons by beating Malmö 2-0 both away and at home in the play-offs.

The Prague club won their first three away European games in 2024/25 – as many as in their previous 27 matches (D3 L21) – following the draw at Stuttgart with a 5-0 loss at Manchester City and a 4-2 Matchday 6 reverse at Feyenoord.

Lars Friis succeeded Priske as Sparta coach in June.

Priske had taken Sparta to their second successive league title, and 38th overall, in 2023/24 – the first time the club had won successive championships since 2001. Sparta also claimed the Czech Cup last season for a 16th time, completing a sixth domestic double.

Links and trivia

Born in Prague, Patrik Schick joined Sparta aged 11 in 2007. He made his first-team debut on 3 May 2014 but featured only four times in the league before signing for Bohemians 1905 on loan for 2015/16, his seven league goals helping him earn a move to Sampdoria.

Having come through the youth ranks at Slovácko before moving to England in 2018, Matěj Kovář spent 2022/23 on loan at Sparta from Manchester United. The goalkeeper made 28 league appearances as the club claimed their first Czech title since 2014.

International team-mates:
Pierro Hincapié & Angelo Preciado (Ecuador)
Matěj Kovář, Patrik Schick & Jaroslav Zelený, Martin Vitík, Matej Rynes (Czechia)

Latest news

Leverkusen

On Saturday Leverkusen let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Leipzig, falling six points behind leaders Bayern.

Before the defeat at Atlético Leverkusen were on a 11-match winning streak, including all five in the league since Matchday 6; they are unbeaten in 26 Bundesliga away games.

Florian Wirtz scored twice in a 3-1 win at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach on 18 January, setting up the third for Patrik Schick.

Schick, who opened the scoring on Saturday, has 13 goals in his last nine league games, including four in a 5-1 win against Freiburg on 21 December and two in a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund on 10 January.

Leverkusen completed the first half of the Bundesliga season with a 1-0 win against Mainz on 14 January.

Xabi Alonso's side have conceded 26 goals in their first 19 league games, two more than in the whole of 2023/24.

Victor Boniface suffered a thigh injury on 18 November while on international duty with Nigeria and has not played since, although he has been an unused substitute in the last two matches.

Martin Terrier was taken off early against Gladbach with a torn Achilles tendon and is not expected to play again this season.

Jeanuël Belocian has been out since 5 January with a knee injury.

Amine Adli has been out since Matchday 3 with a fractured fibula.

On 2 January Leverkusen signed Argentinian striker Alejo Sarco from Vélez Sarsfield; Sadik Fofana joined Grazer AK on 11 January.

On 21 December Piero Hincapie signed a new contract until 2029.

Sparta Praha

The defeat by Inter was Sparta's first competitive match since a 2-1 home win against Jablonec on 15 December.

That made it three successive league wins and six matches unbeaten in the Czech top flight (W3 D3).

The 4-2 defeat at Feyenoord on Matchday 6 is Sparta's only other loss in their last six games (W3 D1).

Having made a 15-game unbeaten start to 2024/25, Sparta Praha have lost nine of their last 18 in all competitions, winning five.

Sparta's four league defeats this season is two more than in the whole of 2023/24 and one more than 2022/23.

The Czech champions began 2025 at a training camp in Spain, winning friendlies against Malmö on 10 January (3-1) and Bodø/Glimt five days later (3-0) with Victor Olatunji scoring in both games.

Lukáš Haraslín was sidelined by a hamstring problem between 23 October and 23 November and went off in the first half on Matchday 5 with a similar injury, returning as a late substitute against Inter.

Elias Cobbaut has not played since going off injured on Matchday 6.

Angelo Preciado (meniscus) has been out since Matchday 3.

Albion Rrahmani (out since 15 December, muscle) and Indrit Tuci (12 January) have also been sidelined.

Sparta have signed defender Emmanuel Uchenna from Baník Ostrava, Venezia midfielder Magnus Kofod Andersen and Jan Kuchta on loan from Midtjylland, the latter having left the club for Denmark in the summer, this month.

On 22 January Marcus Solbakken joined Pisa on loan for the rest of the season.