Good performance recognised

 After six games unbeaten in the 2011/12 campaign the coaching team of Lewandowski/Hyypiä continue their successful work.

 

New quality in the squad

In Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) and Phillipp Wollscheid (FC Nürnberg) the Werkself sign two players who quickly integrates with the squad and Phil to vacant, key positions in the defence. Michael Rensing (FC Köln) and Junior Fernandes (Cu de Chile) plus returnees Jens Hegeler and Hajime Hosogai are signed. Tranquillo Barnetta, René Adler, Michael Ballack, Bastian Oczipka, Fabian Giefer and Eren Derdiyok are six players leaving the team who had a great influence on the Werkself in recent years.

Average start to the season

Following defeat in the opening match at newly promoted Eintracht Frankfurt, the following Werkself games are a mixed bag with four points from four games putting Bayer 04 in the middle of the table

Upturn and historic victory
Upturn comes on matchday nine starting with a 2-1 away win, after 23 fruitless attempts in the Bavarian state capitol, against Bayern Munich who go on to dominate the season. That was the only defeat in the Bundesliga all season for the eventual treble winners. In the 13 Bundesliga games after matchday four the Werkself win nine and draw two. Bayer 04 have really found their feet.

28 October 2012: Bayer 04 win in Munich — standing left to right: Daniel Carvajal, Stefan Kießling, Daniel Schwaab, Simon Rolfes, Stefan Reinartz, Manuel Friedrich, Bernd Leno, Ömer Toprak, Jens Hegeler, Lars Bender, Gonzalo Castro, Andre Schürrle, Philipp Wollscheid, Hajime Hosogai

 Europa League

 The two coaches can try out young players from the second team and the U19s in the group stage matches against Rapid Vienna, Rosenberg and Metalist Kharkiv. Bayer 04 qualify for the knockout rounds as runners-up to Metalist.

Half-time record

 Up to the last game of the first half of the season and the Cup exit against VfL Wolfsburg, the Werkself are doing really well and they go into the winter break in second place. Captain Simon Rolfes and new signing Arkadiusz Milick from Gornik Zarbze join the squad in the winter. Out of contract Sebastien Boenisch also arrives in the course of the first half of the season.

 End of the road against Benfica

 The Europa League campaign comes to an end for the Werkself in the Round of 32 with two defeats (0-1, 1-2) against the football club with the most members in the world. Now the aim is to concentrate on qualifying for the group stage of next terms Champions League.

 Stadium Vision

 In the middle of April the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH join with partners Telekom and Cisco in presenting the 'stadium of the future' under the name Stadium Vision. Over the course of the 2013/14 season the BayArena is to be extended to become a world of experience for fans and visitors. Hundreds of flat screens on the concourses, an app for mobile devices with moving images and statistics plus a range of other technical possibilities are to follow.

 Second half of season

 After an unlucky 3-2 defeat – in spite of the spectacular second half – against Borussia Dortmund on matchday 20, the Werkself end up on third place after a run of eight games unbeaten just one point behind Dortmund and ten points ahead of fourth-placed Schalke.

Top goalscorer

Title for Stefan Kießling – his winning goal in the last game of the season at Hamburg 90 minutes brought the striker not just the coveted goalscorer is Canon with his 25 goals but also exceeded the long-term Bayer 04 goalscoring record of Ulf Kirsten by three goals.

Farewell

On the last matchday several players head off in all directions in Europe. Andre Schürrle heads to England to join Chelsea, Daniel Carvajal returns to real Madrid, crowd favourite Manuel Friedrich leaves the club with no destination, Michal Kadlec moves to Turkey to join Fenerbahce, Junior Fernandes goes to Dynamo Zagreb in Croatia and Daniel Schwaab (VfB Stuttgart), Michael Rensing (Fortuna Düsseldorf) and Hajime Hosogai (Hertha Berlin) all seek new challenges. Sascha Lewandowski also says farewell to the supporters and the players after a year in professional football. From now on he is responsible as youth head coach for bringing the most talented youth players through to the first team.

Youth and Women

The U23s Avoid the drop after a long relegation battle on the penultimate matchday. The U19s beat the FC Köln U19s in an exciting game to lift the Middle Rhine Cup. The Women finish in a safe eighth place in the table and in Bella Linden they have a player who will later be a European Champion with the Germany women's team.