Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Praha

Bayer Leverkusen have won four consecutive UEFA Champions League home games for the first time, while they’ve also kept a clean sheet in four straight home matches in major European competition – their longest such run since May 1988 (five in the UEFA Cup).

Sparta Prague are winless in their last seven UEFA Champions League games (D1 L6), which is now their longest run without a victory in major European competition since December 2005 (14 matches).

Since the start of last season, no team have won more games than Bayer Leverkusen in major European competition (14 – level with Real Madrid and Liverpool). Meanwhile, only Barcelona and Real Madrid (48 each) have netted more goals than Xabi Alonso’s side (46) in the same period.

The only previous meetings between Bayer Leverkusen and Sparta Prague in European competition came in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup group stage with Die Werkself winning 1-0 at BayArena.

Sparta Prague’s only previous win away to German opposition in European competition came against SV Werder Bremen in the 1992-93 Cup Winner’s Cup, going six without a win to such teams since then (D4 L2).

Bayer Leverkusen have won their last three home UEFA Champions League matches without conceding a single goal – they have never previously won four in a row on home soil in the competition, with their current run their fourth sequence of three consecutive wins.

Sparta Prague are winless in their last 15 away UEFA Champions League matches (D3 L12), conceding 38 goals in this time since a 1-0 win over FC Porto back in December 2001.

Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last 12 home major European matches (W9 D3), their best ever home unbeaten run. They are also looking to keep four consecutive home clean sheets in the same season for the first time since doing so in the 1987-88 UEFA Cup.