For the third time: Bayer 04 visit German School Madrid

Dirk Karl Pilgram, Headmaster of the German School Madrid (DSM) since 2022, gave a warm welcome to the delegation. The connection with Leverkusen was immediately apparent, and not just because of the visits from previous years and the large number of jerseys on the walls. After all, Pilgram himself was born in Leverkusen and is still a die-hard Bayer 04 fan and member to this day. "When the team were promoted in 1979, I was completely hooked!" he said. Pilgram continued: “It's a special honour for us to welcome Bayer 04 here again today after their first visit in 2015 and subsequently in 2022, and for me personally as a die-hard fan it is of course a real highlight. We're delighted that our football-loving children can now really let off steam here together with the double winners."

At the start of the session, all the kids were presented with a gift of training gear befitting their status - namely the championship jersey. And then it was time to get started. Judt, Seifert and Miguel, who runs the after-school sports club at DSM, led the training session. The 12-14-year-olds were highly motivated and the constant drizzle did nothing to spoil the workout. They soon got down to business with various passing drills, one-on-one situations and different forms of small-sided games. The one-hour session ended with the boys and girls playing a fiercely-competitive final game across the whole pitch.

A former graduate of the DSM, which educates around 1,700 children from kindergarten to Abitur (high school diploma) also stopped by. Fernando Carro, named after his Bayer 04 CEO father successfully completed his high school diploma here in 2024. He told the kids about his first-hand experiences with the team during the double-winning season and gave the youngsters some tips for everyday school life.

Adler and Co. presented headmaster Pilgram with a gift at the end of the visit: another Werkself jersey, which all the players and the coaching staff led by Xabi Alonso had signed before the trip. The collection of jerseys in the corridors continues to grow and it will certainly not be the last one. In the evening, Pilgram and Miguel, along with the delegation, will watch the match against Atletico Madrid live in the stadium.

Adler summed up the visit: "For us, connections like this are incredibly valuable. The work here at the German School is impressive. We're delighted that we can also make a difference beyond Leverkusen and Germany with our football, but above all with our strategic work, and that we may even have converted the next couple of Bayer 04 fans here today." (laughs)