Carro used the time for meetings with senior representatives of North and South American sports business, visited the stands of La Liga and Serie A and also mixed among the 2,000 participants as a passionate networker at the congress centre of the rainy city.
The senior conversational partners of the Spaniard included Carlos Sanchez, managing director of Fox Deportes, Italy's Serie A boss Luigi di Servio plus Julie Uhrmann, who as the CEO of Angel City FC Is currently responsible for probably the most exciting women's football project in the USA founded by stars such as Natalie Portman and Serena Williams. At the Congress there was also a meeting with Italy's World Cup winner and Serie A ambassador Alessandro Del Piero that included a presentation of a shirt.
"These trips are demanding," said Carro about the short journey to the south-east coast of the USA. "But it's important to think outside the box. At these events, you get a good insight into the global football market and a better feeling for the demands on a contemporary and successful league or club management."
Carro, a keen advocate for a strong global presence for German clubs, also gained important thoughts about the future of the Bundesliga: "The Bundesliga continues to be one of the top leagues in the world. It offers quality, spectacle and stadium atmosphere that is unequalled. The Bundesliga does not have to hide from anyone as the number two in terms of worldwide spectator statistics. But this status quo is not set in stone. Our competitors are not asleep."
Carro, a member of the supervisory committee of the DFL subsidiary Bundesliga International, sees a key role for the future competitiveness of Germany's top flight with the crucial input from a strategic partner at the DFL general meeting on 11 December: "If the Bundesliga experience is to remain of such high quality as it was before then we have to face up to global competition, be on the ball and innovative, invest smartly in our product and, above all, be brave at the right points and open to new ideas. But that requires the means, resources and more expertise. A strategic partner would be enormously important for the future viability of the Bundesliga."
Carro was joined on the trip to the USA by communications director Holger Tromp as well as Leonardo Giammarioli, the new head of internationalisation at Bayer 04. The small Leverkusen delegation was supported by the Mexican PR agency Extreme PR. The Bayer 04 boss fulfilled interview requests from the broadcasters TUDN (rights holder for the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League in the USA) and CBS Sports plus the US business portal Sportico.
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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The Werkself will be looking to continue their run in the Champions League against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The two victories without conceding a goal at Benfica (1:0) and Manchester City (2-0) will hopefully be followed by a win at home at the BayArena. Against the English side, who have a player with a Black and Red past in their ranks, the way to victory could be through efficiency in attack and quick transitional play. The latter in particular has recently caused the Magpies problems away from home on the European stage. Fans can also get the stylish matchday sticker for their Sound of Dreams tour pass at the Bayer 04 Fanwelt. The matchday news.
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For the first time ever, Bayer 04 have reached the knockout phase of the UEFA Youth League. At the end of the league phase, the Leverkusen U19s secured a 2-1 home win against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December. Montrell Culbreath scored before half-time and Ferdinand Pohl doubled the lead after the restart in the clash with the English side. The UCL youth competition continues at the beginning of February with the Round of 32, which will be played away from home without a second leg.
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