Sven Bender (German pronunciation: ; born 27 April 1989) is a German footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and central defender for Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen. He was raised in Brannenburg and started his football career playing for TSV Brannenburg. Sven is the twin brother of Lars Bender.
Sven 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.
He started his football career on the U-14 team and played for all of Die Löwen's youth teams in three years. In November 2007, Sven extended his contract with 1860 Munich until 2011. In 2009, Munich had to sell both Lars and Sven Bender, due to club's financial problem. Sven moved to Borussia Dortmund and Lars to Bayer Leverkusen. Sven played 65 games and scored 1 goal for 1860 Munich. In 2009, he joined Borussia Dortmund, where he signed a contract that tied him to the club until 2013.