Bayer Leverkusen has developed into a formative brand of the Bundesliga. This also has to do with important course of the board of CEO Fernando Carro.
When the victorious protagonists of Bayer Leverkusen ran in front of the impact fan block on Saturday evening to celebrate the top performance in the top game at Eintracht Frankfurt (4: 1), a well -known request resigned. “Pull out the leather pants!” called the Leverkusen appendix in the choir. A timeless classic that somehow always pulls.
Before the Champions League round of 16 between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen (Wednesday, 9 p.m., live in the live ticker and audio stream on Sportschau.de) there is no favorite. If someone can stand up to the German record champion and current league leader, then the Werkelf.
Florian Eckl, Florian Eckl, Sportschau, 21.02.2025 12:54 p.m.
Personnel decisions Are the a and all
The double last year came to the power demonstration of a clever squad under masterly guidance: Leverkusen played such an attractive football that this team collected nationwide sympathy. Even the best generation of Bavaria had never come through a season. The perfect season was also good for a Bundesliga location that was subsequently smiled at.
A fact that Fernando Carro in particular fulfilled with pride. Born in Spaniards, in 2018, as a career changer in professional football, had previously worked as CEO of the Bertelsmann subsidiary Arvato, a service company with almost 70,000 employees.
At the Spobis sports business congress in Hamburg, the 60-year-old talked extensively about the remarkable development: “In the end, it’s always about personnel decisions. They are the be -all and end -all. I know that in the end a lot depends on the decisive responsible.”
Happiness with Simon Rolfes
So he has “A new sales and marketing director, a new head of communication and a new sports director with Simon Rolfes.” Already in a horizon interview, Carro, who grew up in Barcelona, had from his “Best personnel decision at Bayer 04” spoken to make the ex-player only in 2018 the sports director, then in 2022 as the managing director of Sport as the successor to Rudi Völler. After all, everything is subordinate to the goal “Maxing the sporting success.”
That is also the crucial difference to the economy: in sports, “Not first the financial result”. It is always about using the existing resources optimally – in the end, resources always mean money. Carro said: “Certainly there is never anything in football. But a clear strategy is important.” When the Bundesliga team slipped into a crisis in autumn 2022, strategic adjustments were made again.
Brand with many positive attributes
Together with Rolfes, the boss dared to sign the Xabi Alonso, which had previously been working in Spain under the radar under the radar. The second stroke of luck to nickname “Vicecuses” to scare away. Since then, the brand may have been more sexy than ever, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, according to Carro, stands for “Hunger of success, courage and quality, but also closeness and innovative strength”.
At the talk under the title “Between the championship and the world stage” made Carro clear that he had already felt great longing for titles when he took office under the Bayer Cross – and she has not yet breastfed with the double 2023/2024.
Encounter at eye level: Bayern Munich with Jamal Musiala on the ball against Bayer Leverkusen with Granit Xhaka
The motto for the Ensemble, which is still represented in three competitions: “We take everything!” However, the championship seems hardly realistic at eight points behind, the DFB Cup with the semi-finals with the third division club Arminia Bielefeld. The duels with Bayern now show what is going on in the premier class.
Nobody talks about the resolution of the guard
But no one in Leverkusen does not put the word of wax, although one has bought at all levels: sales climbed to more than 350 million euros, the number of members rose by almost 70 percent to around 66,000, there is a long waiting list for season tickets, last season 75,000 jerseys were gone – and there was also new records at social media.
But Bayern are different in every category: due to their record sales of 951 million euros alone, the possibilities in Munich are completely different. Carro formulated the challenges for Leverkusen as follows: “In order to stay at the head of the Bundesliga, you have to be able to keep your top players as a club. We succeeded this year. But we can hardly prevent players from going to the largest clubs in the world at some point that have even greater economic opportunities.”
When asked about the transfer request of honorary president Uli Hoeneß in relation to Florian Wirtz, Carro said a month ago for fun: “I am happy when Uli H. dreams. These are his dreams, not mine.”
Florian Wirtz could bring record revenues
Nevertheless, that the noble technician like Kai Havertz – possibly for a record revenue – is hardly prevented. It is also clear that Bayer Leverkusen has to continue to grow in order to permanently position itself among the 16 best team in Europe. In the long term, the US market plays an important role, of course, every round in the premier class brings a lot.
All follows according to Carro this motto: “We try to deal intelligently with our financial possibilities. In the end, in the leadership of the association we have no direct influence on the events on the field. But we do everything we can to increase the likelihood of success on the pitch with our decisions.” Which has been impressive for a year and a half.