Four days after dropping two points at Augsburg in a 2-2 Bundesliga draw, Bayer Leverkusen open their Europa League campaign at BayArena on September 16. Coach Carles Martínez will want a cleaner performance after a mixed start to the domestic season: one win, one loss, and that draw from their first three Bundesliga outings. Celje arrive from Slovenia having lost 1-2 at Bravo in the Slovenian First League last weekend, so neither side enters with full confidence. This is matchday 1 of the Europa League league stage, and first impressions in this format carry real weight.
What’s at stake
The 2026-27 UEFA Europa League uses a single league-stage format with 36 clubs. The top 16 teams in the final standings advance automatically to the round of 16, while those finishing between 17th and 24th drop into a knockout play-off round. With all 36 teams level on zero points before a ball is kicked, the opening matchday sets the tone for a long phase where every point counts across eight fixtures. Leverkusen’s capacity to bank wins against the smaller sides in the field will likely define their league-stage finish.
A win for Leverkusen does the obvious job of starting their tally, but it also allows Carles Martínez to send a message after an unsettled opening to the Bundesliga season. A slip here against a Slovenian side would amplify questions around the team’s consistency, particularly given the home-advantage factor at BayArena. For Celje, a draw or win would represent one of the biggest results in the club’s European history, and a positive return to take back to the 1. SNL.
How they got here
Leverkusen’s last five results read: draw (2-2 at Augsburg), win (4-0 vs Union Berlin at home), loss (2-3 at Elversberg), win (4-0 at Wehen in the DFB Pokal), and a pre-season win (2-1 vs Newcastle). The big-number victories show attacking capability, but the loss at Elversberg and the inability to close out at Augsburg point to defensive lapses that a compact European opponent could try to exploit. Celje’s recent five-match run tells a harder story: losses to Bravo (1-2), Koper (0-1) and Brinje-Grosuplje (1-4), a win at Aluminij (2-0), and a Europa League qualifying defeat at home to Slovan Bratislava (1-2). Three defeats in the 1. SNL and an exit from higher European competition suggest Celje are navigating a difficult patch.
Leverkusen qualified for the Europa League league stage via Bundesliga performance in 2025-26. Celje earned their spot through the Slovenian top flight, but the Slovan Bratislava defeat in qualifying underlined the gap they face when stepping up to this level. This is the first European meeting between these two clubs, with the head-to-head record standing at 0-0-0 across all competitions.
Key battle to watch
Celje’s defensive block against Leverkusen’s wide runners will be the tactical thread to follow. Martínez has options across the front line, with players like Victor Boniface and Martin Terrier available to stretch a Slovenian defense that conceded four goals in a single domestic loss at Brinje-Grosuplje just weeks ago. If Celje drop deep and look to absorb pressure, Leverkusen’s ability to combine through tight spaces and deliver quality from wide areas will determine how quickly, and how often, they can break the visitors down.
Key Stats
Match Context
Standings
Head To Head
Our Prediction
Leverkusen have enough quality at home to handle a Celje side showing poor domestic form, but their own inconsistency this season means a routine victory is not guaranteed. Expect Leverkusen to control large portions of the match and convert enough chances to take the three points, though Celje’s defensive organization could make it tighter than the scoreline eventually suggests.