First, Benni Zander and Alex Schlüter welcomed the 38-year-old to the Podcast stage. As part of the ‘kicker meets DAZN’ podcast, Rolfes talked about his time as a TV pundit for the broadcaster ZDF. “It wasn’t at all easy to explain what’s happened in a game in 90 seconds.”
The Bayer 04 honorary captain had one lasting impression from the time he completed his Master for International Players (MIP), a two-year course offered by UEFA. In addition to Rolfes, other big names in football like Eric Abidal and Juninho have also earned that qualification. “It was a great networking opportunity. Sometimes it was a bit like a school trip – we quickly became a team and are still in contact with each other.” Other subjects on the podcast, that will be available from Monday on all the usual platforms, included the transfer strategy at Bayer 04 and also the level of communication between the new generation of sporting directors.
As well as Rolfes, this definitely includes Marcel Schäfer. The 35-year-old hung up his boots in 2018 and is now the sporting director at VfL Wolfsburg after ten years playing for the Wolves. Rolfes and Schäfer know each other well from their time of playing each other. They both took part in a DFB leadership trip to the USA in December. They met up again at SPOBIS – on the stage. Along with two other speakers, they talked about their relationship with players, agents and clubs.
The final day of SPOBIS 2020 on Thursday sees Black and Red representation on the stage again; this time it is Fernando Carro, the chairman of the board at Bayer 04. The 55-year-old will be joined on-stage by Axel Hellmann (member of the board at Eintracht Frankfurt), Oliver Leki (member of the board at SC Freiburg) and Bernd Hoffmann (chairman of the board at Hamburg SV). The subject covered by the quartet: ‘Bundesliga: What we have learned from our mistakes and now have to do better’.
Tickets for the first two Bayer 04 women’s team home games are now on general sale. A week after their league opener away at RB Leipzig, Roberto Pätzold’s side will face last season’s runners-up, VfL Wolfsburg, in the first home fixture on Sunday 30 August (kick-off: 16:00 CEST). Fifteen days later, on Monday night, 14 September (kick-off: 18:00 CEST), the Leverkusen Women host German champions Bayern Munich at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for a top-of-the-table league clash. You can now also select specific seats via the online shop. The latest information on match ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended midfielder Noah Mbamba’s contract by twelve months and sent the Belgian U21 international on loan to France. At FC Lorient, the 21-year-old – whose contract at Leverkusen now runs to 30 June 2029 – is set to gain playing time in Ligue 1 and, through strong performances and further development, put himself in the running for a future place in the Werkself squad.
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Spurred on by a flawless hat-trick from Cornelia Kramer, the Bayer 04 women’s team won their penultimate pre-season friendly in commanding fashion. As part of the season launch, the Werkself beat Dutch top-flight side Feyenoord 7–0. In front of 3,000 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, Kramer (6’, 25’, 45’), Sofie Zdebel (47’), Maja Sternad (59'), Natasha Kowalski (83') and Vanessa Fudalla (86') scored the goals for coach Roberto Pätzold’s side.
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The Shareholders’ Committee of Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH has extended the contracts of the two managing directors, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes, ahead of schedule. The CEO, Fernando Carro (62), will continue in his role until 30 June 2029, and managing director sport Simon Rolfes (44) will remain in post until 30 June 2031.
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