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.

[7] 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 UEFA Champions League he helped Leverkusen finish runner-up in the group stage behind AS Monaco but later lost to Atlético Madrid in the Round of 16.

Bender abdicated the captaincy prior to the 2020–21 season due to his ongoing injury issues, passing the role over to Charles Aránguiz.

[13] He replaced his brother Sven, who had also played his final match, in the 89th minute while Leverkusen was awarded a penalty.

Lars Bender took the penalty, and in a respectful gesture, Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki allowed him to score without making any effort to save the shot.

[16] 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".

[18] 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,[19] winning the silver medal.