Rebuilding Leverkusen wary of world's best PSG

Bayer Leverkusen, who are still rebuilding after a turbulent summer, face perhaps the toughest test in club football when they host European champions Paris Saint-Germain tonight.

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After the most successful period in the German club’s 120-year-old history, which included an unbeaten league and cup double and a run to the Europa League final in 2023/24, Leverkusen lost coach Xabi Alonso and several first teamers in the summer.

Alonso's successor Erik ten Hag was sacked after just two league matches, with Dane Kasper Hjulmand since tasked with bedding in almost a starting XI of new arrivals.

Of those, France defender Loic Bade (right) has quickly made an impression, already calling the shots in central defence.

In an interview with AFP, Paris-born Bade said that Leverkusen needed to be wary of the French giants, calling PSG “the best team in the world right now”.