5 reasons Leverkusen will beat Copenhagen

>>> Follow Leverkusen's trip to Copenhagen LIVE!

1) Hjulmand at the helm

New coach Kasper Hjulmand is a man that has experienced success at both club and international level, and arrives at the BayArena on the back of four impressive years with the Denmark national team.

In just his second permanent head coach position in his native Denmark with Nordsjaelland, Hjulmand led the Tigers to Danish Superliga glory when they won the 2011/12 title, beating upcoming opponents Copenhagen to top spot by two points.

With the national team, the new Werkself boss showcased his ability to navigate knockout football by guiding them to the semi-finals at Euro 2020.

Hjulmand also led the Danes to home and away wins against a star-studded France team in the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League group stage. On Matchday 3 of the Bundesliga last Friday, he kicked off his Leverkusen reign with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over in-form Eintracht Frankfurt.

2) Fresh faces

Hjulmand’s arrival is the latest in a sea of changes at Leverkusen this season. With players that were key to the club’s previous successes such as Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Granit Xhaka all departing, a new wave of talent has come in to soften the blow of their exits, and hopefully usher in another successful era for the club.

Among those new signings are centre-backs Jarell Quansah and Loïc Badé, serial winner and experienced right-back Lucas Vázquez and the mercurial Eliesse Ben Seghir.

Former Liverpool man Quansah opened his Leverkusen account on his debut with a brilliant guided header past Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann, and both France international Badé and five-time Champions League winner Vázquez look like astute acquisitions to accompany the likes of Alejandro Grimaldo, who bagged a brace against Frankfurt, in the Bayer backline.

Ben Seghir arrives in the Bundesliga with a glowing reputation after his exploits with previous club Monaco, and at just 20 years of age he’ll bring flair and youthful exuberance to an already-dangerous Leverkusen attack that boasts the likes of Patrik Schick, who has four goals in four this season, and USMNT international Malik Tillman.

Watch: Lucas Vázquez arrives at Leverkusen

3) Scoring sensation Schick

After a difficult start to the campaign against Hoffenheim, Schick was back amongst the goals with a brace against Werder Bremen, before netting in the Frankfurt win.

Now a senior figure in this new-look Leverkusen side, the man who netted 21 Bundesliga goals in 2024/25, and 27 in all competitions, will look to lead by example once more and further his reputation as one of Europe’s most fearsome goal-getters.

He’ll therefore be eager to get off the mark on Matchday 1 of this season’s Champions League campaign.

Watch: Schick primed for new Leverkusen chapter

4) Historical advantage

These two sides have met just twice previously, with both of those encounters coming in the Champions League.

Those meetings took place in the 2014/15 season and both ended with a Leverkusen win, the first of which was a 3-2 triumph in Copenhagen courtesy of goals from Heung-Min Son, Stefan Kießling and Karim Bellarabi.

Former Germany international Kießling then netted twice in the home fixture, while Son and Hakan Çalhanoğlu got the other two goals in a dominant 4-0 victory.

5) Building momentum

Having had 13 new players come through the door and replaced their manager, Leverkusen will see this game as an opportunity to get their European season up and running with a good result and build on the triumph over Frankfurt after a hectic few weeks.

The start to Hjulmand's reign brings with it renewed optimism around the club and an opportunity for a fresh beginning, which they’ll be desperate to grab with both hands against the reigning Danish champions.