The men’s game against Toluca will be played on the evening of May 17 at Estadio Nemesio Díez, one of Mexico’s grandest and oldest football stadiums with a capacity over 30,000, while the women will take on Club América at the famous Azteca Stadium July 14th. The Bayer 04 Leverkusen men will travel to Mexico from May 15-20, with the women’s team scheduled for July 11-16.
“We are incredibly pleased to announce this trip to the Americas and be part of these special Bayer Mexico 100th anniversary celebrations,” said Bayer 04 Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro. “We have been working hard strategically in recent years on building up our global recognition. On one hand, we have set up a great digital foundation with more than 8 million people worldwide linked to Bayer 04 as fans and followers. On the other, we have strengthened our natural bond to Bayer, leading now to this fantastic alliance. I would like to thank our corporate family at Bayer Mexico for their initiative to join together with them for their celebrations with our teams as terrific Bayer Ambassadors. I’d also like to thank the front offices at both Toluca and Club América, and Liga MX. We look forward to an exciting partnership, hopefully with long term boundaries.”
Toluca are one of the greats of Mexican football with 10 total titles in Mexico’s Primera Division and two CONCACAF Champions Cup titles in 1968 and 2003 as the best team in North & Central America. The Club América women have been playing in Liga MX Feminil since 2017 and won the 2018 Apertura as their only league title.
The Bayer 04 Mexico Tour ‘22 will be Leverkusen’s first trip to North & Central American since the Florida Cup in 2017 more than four years ago. In that tournament, Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Argentina’s Estudiantes and defeated Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro of Belo Horizonte, 1-0.
The Bayer 04 women’s team has never traveled to North American before. After recording a best-ever Bundesliga season in 2020-21, the Bayer 04 women are still looking to push towards a top 6 finish this campaign and await their second-ever German Cup Semifinals appearance in two weeks (vs. Potsdam on April 18).
Leverkusen have a long history of attracting talent from the Americas – especially South America – and have featured two Mexican stars at Die Werkself including two seasons with superstar striker Chicharito (2015-2017) and a short stint with Mexican national team stalwart Andres Guardado (2014) on loan to Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
“This trip will be more than just a game but a celebration of shared passion for football,” added Carro. “Global tours to football-rich cultures like Mexico and Central America serve to strengthen Bayer 04 Leverkusen and the Bundesliga brand overseas. We are also proud that our Bayer 04 Leverkusen women’s team will be a crucial part of this series of special events.”
“Right after a challenging season we are looking forward to this trip and the friendly game against Toluca. We really appreciate this unique opportunity for our young team. It is going to be a special experience and not just interesting for them in a sportive way. It will also help them grow as a team and as individuals,” said Sporting Director Simon Rolfes.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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