Bayer 04 Brazil Tour – Legendary reputation and extremely successful: the Flamengo U20s

The oldest junior side at the big club CR Flamengo sets national and international standards. This year the U20s won the league title as they did in 2023 and also lifted the U20 Copa Libertadores for the second time in succession – the South American equivalent of the UEFA Youth League. That secured a place for the team in the prestigious U20 Intercontinental Cup, where, since 2022, the winners of the U20 Copa Libertadores play the winners of the Youth League. In 2024 Flamengo lifted the trophy against Olympiakos and this August they play Barcelona.

In addition to the impressive trophy collection, Flamengo regularly succeed in bringing through top players from the academy into the first team – or sells them for big transfer fees. Famous graduates from the recent past include Vinícius Júnior, who joined Real Madrid in 2018 for €45 million, Lucas Paquetá (2019 to AC Milan for €40 million), Reinier Jesus (2020 to Real Madrid for €30 million) and Matheus França (2023 for €20 million to Crystal Palace). Other stars who came through the Flamengo youth set-up include Julio César, Junior, Junior Baiano, Mario Zagallo, Renato Augusto, Thiago Alcântara, Juan, Jorginho, Tita and, of course, Zico.

Every year, a large number of academy players strengthen the first-team squad at Flamengo. Bayer 04 player Arthur and the Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Kauã Santos are former Flamengo talents currently playing in the Bundesliga.

Flamengo are in the middle of their season. The first pre-season friendly for the Werkself ahead of the 2025/26 season, at the same time the first outing for head coach Erik ten Hag, will provide a stern test.

CR Flamengo, THE peoples club

The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (Flamengo regatta club) celebrates its 130th anniversary in November 2025. They have won eight league titles in their glorious history.

After winning five titles in the last millennium, the club known as the People's club – that unites people at all levels of society and offers many inhabitants of the favelas a distraction from their everyday worries – won the national title again in 2009, 2019 and 2020. Important success given that the eternal rivals Fluminense have only won four league titles. The rivalry goes back to 1911 when the Flamengo football section was founded because nine players came from Fluminense.

The pioneers background laid the foundations for a success story that led to winning the club World Cup (1981) plus three Copa Libertadores trophies. The success in the 1980s is primarily linked to Zico, also known as the 'White Pele'. The last two Libertadores finals involved Leverkusen players: In 2019 the Brazilians won 2-1 against a River Plate side that included current Werkself player Exequiel Palacios, in 2022 they secured a 1-0 win with Arturo Vidal against Athletico Paranens. The Flamengo team, who the global star Ronaldinho also played for, included the two former Bayer 04 players Juan and Renato Augusto plus Arthur who played for the club's U20 side for one season. The standout player in the current squad under coach Filipe Luis is playmaker Jorginho who won the Euros with Italy in 2021 and was a Champions League winner with Chelsea (thanks to the goal scored in the final by Kai Havertz). At the Club World Cup the 33-year-old scored for the London club in a 3-1 win against Flamengo.

The jersey colours of black and red are similar to Bayer 04. In the 2015/16 season, Leverkusen played in the legendary horizontal stripes of the Brazilian club that also provides a home for other sports (eSports, indoor football, judo, rowing, swimming, synchronised swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, water ball). Another parallel to Bayer 04 is the great commitment to community action. Flamengo promotes a number of community projects and is very active in the areas of education and sport in supporting disadvantaged teenagers. Flamengo is a complex and multi-layered phenomenon that goes far beyond sport and is in Brazil a symbol of the Brazilian soul, an expression of passion and an important factor in social cohesion. The popularity of the Nação Rubro-Negra (Red Black nation) is also evident on social media: With 75 million followers on the club's platforms, Flamengo is the most popular football club in South America – with a clear lead over SC Corinthians (45.3 million) and Boca Juniors from the Argentine capital Buenos Aires (33.5 million).