There is a hotel from which you can watch Bayer Leverkusen play

There is no doubt about it: Bayer Leverkusen is the team that has shown the best football in Europe in the first half of the 2023/24 season. Goals, chances and a constant search for verticality through possession that is never trivial and an end in itself make Xabi Alonso's team a must-watch for every fan. The Spanish coach's philosophy is based on a few key elements, a 3-4-2-1 in which density is developed in the central areas and throw-ins without the ball are exploited. The path in the Bundesliga has exceeded all expectations and Bayer Leverkusen arrive at the winter break as the most serious title contender alongside Bayern Munich. A convincing path in the Europa League, too, where six wins in as many games in the group stage and qualification for the round of 16 have resulted.

Bayer Leverkusen star players

An exceptional collective in which the talent of some individuals shines brighter than others. Starting with Florian Wirtz, an attacking midfielder born in 2000: the cruciate ligament rupture he suffered in March 2022 threatened to halt his meteoric rise, which began in 2020 when he became the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at the age of 17 years and 34 days, but he did not. Since his return to the pitch, Wirtz has raised the level of performance in every game. It is possible, if not likely, that this is his last season at Leverkusen. A leap to a big name in European football awaits him. Then there's Alejandro Grimaldo, a left-back who arrived from Benfica with a clean sheet but is on the move with the goal-scoring prowess of a centre-forward. An exceptional consistency of performance that earned him his first call-up to the Spanish national team at the age of 28. Speaking of strikers, a mention of Victor Boniface is in order. Born in 2000, the Nigerian centre-forward, who was bought for €20 million from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, has scored in double figures in all competitions and has even doubled his market value.

Hotel inside the stadium

In short, a team that plays spectacular football and where it is all too easy to fall in love with their players. And if you're travelling through to Leverkusen and want to watch a Bayer game live, you can do so in the comfort of at your hotel. Yes, because the structure of the BayArena, the stadium where Bayer Leverkusen plays its home games, provides for the upper part of the north curve to coincide with a façade of the Lindner Hotel Leverkusen BayArena, a hotel that was integrated into the stadium structure after its completion in 1998. It is a four-star hotel that is primarily used by travelling business people and offers several conference rooms with a view of the pitch, among many other amenities. The icing on the cake for a facility that underwent a major refurbishment in 2009, increasing its total capacity to 30,000. This is not an absolute novelty when you consider that so many teams have a hotel in their property portfolio. In Italy, for example, Juventus is inextricably linked with the J-Hotel, a hotel complex within walking distance of the Allianz Stadium and the Juventus Museum. However, no club can offer what Bayer Leverkusen offers both on and off the pitch.