Lars Bender


Lars Bender is a German footballer who plays as a right back or defensive midfielder and captains Bayer Leverkusen. He was raised in Brannenburg, city in the district of Rosenheim. He is the twin brother of Sven Bender, who also plays for Bayer Leverkusen.

Club career

Early career

Lars Bender played from 1993 to 1999 in the youth of the TSV Brannenburg, from 1999 to 2002 he was part of SpVgg Unterhaching youth teams. In summer 2002, he moved to the 1860 München youth team.

1860 Munich

In August 2006, Bender played his first game for 1860 Munich II in the Regionalliga Süd. In October, he was an unused substitute in the 1860 Munich senior team, and on 27 November 2006, when he was 17 years old, he made his professional debut at the home game against the TuS Koblenz in the 2. Bundesliga. In his first professional season, he played 13 matches, nine of them in the starting lineup. In this season, Bender won the Fritz-Walter trophy, ahead of then Mönchengladbach's Marko Marin and his twin brother, Sven Bender. In his second season, he was a regular player in the defensive midfield. On the first day of the new season, he scored his first goal. Bender started 2008–09 season again as a regular player. In the second league game against FSV Frankfurt on 3 October 2008, he took over the captaincy and was at 19 the youngest captain in the history of the 1860 Munich, but on 20 October he was seriously injured and after a number of injuries, he finished that season with only 15 matches played. In his three professional seasons played for 1860 München in the 2. Bundesliga, he played 58 games and scored four goals.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

On 18 August 2009, Bender signed a three-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen. He played his first match in the Bundesliga coming off the bench on Matchday 6 and was used as a substitute in most of 20 games he played during his first season in Bayer Leverkusen. He scored his first goal in the Bundesliga against Eintracht Frankfurt on 16 September, an eventual 4–0 win. In the following season, his position in the defensive midfield remained competitive and he was often second choice, but he played 27 matches and scored three goals. In the 2011–12 season, he was a regular player and played most of the games over the full season, only interrupted by a forced break for a muscle bundle crack injury in the spring of 2012. On 21 March 2012, Bender signed a new contract with Leverkusen to 2018. In the 2012–13 Bundesliga season, he played 33 games, scored 3 goals and made 6 assists. On 31 October 2013, he extended his contract with Leverkusen until 2019.
In the 2013–14 season, he played 29 games and scored three goals in the Bundesliga, despite being injured for the most of September and October and again in the spring of 2014. In the 2014–2015 season, he's comeback to field and played 26 games in Bundesliga, he's made only one goal in this season against SC Paderborn 07. In UEFA Champions League he helped Leverkusen to finished runner-up in Phase Group behind AS Monaco but later lost by Atlético Madrid on Round of 16. For season 2015/16 coach Roger Schmidt appointed him as the new team captain in place of Simon Rolfes, who had ended his career after the end of the preseason. This season is a struggle for him, after had long time injury in October 2015 until March 2016, and he's only got 10 appearances in Bundesliga and made a pair appearances in Champions League.

International career

He was part of the German under-19 side that won the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. He and his twin Sven were named jointly as players of the tournament.
Bender was chosen as part of Germany's 23-man squad for Euro 2012. He scored an 80th-minute winner in the final group game against Denmark.
On 29 May 2013 Bender scored twice in a 4–2 win over Ecuador.
He was named in Germany's provisional 30-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but withdrew on 23 May following a thigh injury in training. Manager Joachim Löw said, "I feel personally very sorry for Lars because I know how much he wanted to be in Brazil, when a player is ruled out so close before a tournament then it is very disappointing for everyone". Lars was part of the Germany Olympic football team for Rio along with his twin and Nils Petersen who were the three selected over 23 years old players, winning the silver medal.

Playing style

Bender normally plays as a defensive midfielder or right-back. He is known for his all-action style and possesses good tackling, passing and ball interception.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.17 June 2012Arena Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine2–12–1UEFA Euro 2012
2.29 May 2013FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, United States2–04–2Friendly
3.29 May 2013FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, United States3–04–2Friendly
4.14 August 2013Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern, Germany3–33–3Friendly

Honours

International

;Germany Youth