The opening match of the VisitMalta Weekender will see Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen going head-to-head at Stamford Bridge on Friday 8 August, with kick-off at 7pm, as the Blues prepare for the start of the upcoming Premier League campaign.

Tickets are on general sale for that and our second match against AC Milan two days later now.

In the meantime, we examine some of the historical links between the two clubs.

We’ve met before

Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen have only faced each other on the pitch twice before, both games coming in the group stage of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League. In fact Leverkusen were the Blues’ very first opponents in that season’s campaign, which of course ended with us lifting the trophy for the first time, also in Germany.

That first game took place at Stamford Bridge, where the two clubs will meet again soon. It was then-Chelsea head coach Andre Villas-Boas’ Champions League debut and resulted in a winning start. Stubborn opponents meant we didn’t break the deadlock until the second half, when David Luiz started and finished a slick move brilliantly. Any nerves were banished late on, when Juan Mata turned in Fernando Torres’ pass to make it 2-0.

Things were less simple in the return fixture in Germany, though. Didier Drogba gave us the lead shortly after half-time with a clinical finish from Daniel Sturridge’s floated ball. However, the home side fought back and we returned to London with nothing, after Eren Derdiyok headed in an equaliser and Manuel Friedrich got an injury-time winner from a corner.

Mutual friends

Michael Ballack was a beaten Champions League finalist with both these clubs, losing out to Real Madrid with Leverkusen in 2002 and Manchester United with Chelsea in 2008, before returning for a second spell at the BayArena. The three-time German Footballer of the Year did win silverware at the Bridge though, lifting the FA Cup on three occasions, including in 2010 when he combined it with the Premier League for our first domestic Double.

Two players who did get a Champions League winner’s medal with the Blues are Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi. The former did so after joining Chelsea from Leverkusen, alongside our Academy graduate, who later spent time on loan at the BayArena. Havertz famously scored the winner against Manchester City in the 2021 Champions League final, and did so again in the following season’s FIFA Club World Cup, after Hudson-Odoi had set up Romelu Lukaku’s opening goal.

Another player who won silverware at the Bridge after moving from Leverkusen is Andre Schurrle. The winger is best remembered for his hat-trick against Fulham and brilliant performance in a 6-0 win over Arsenal, but he also received a winner’s medal for our 2014/15 Premier League title, despite having left for Wolfsburg midway through the season.

You look familiar

Since former Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag became Bayer Leverkusen head coach this summer, they have signed Jarell Quansah from Liverpool and Mark Flekken from Brentford.

They have further former Premier League representation in forward Nathan Tella (Southampton and Burnley) and until recently midfielder Granit Xhaka (Arsenal), who has this week joined Sunderland.

The Black and Reds also have midfielder Aleix Garcia, who made his first start in senior football against Chelsea, in a young Man City side which was thrashed 5-1 in the FA Cup fifth round in 2015/16.

Watch the Blues back at Stamford Bridge when we take on Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan in the VisitMalta Weekender! Click here for tickets.