
Werner Wenning, chair of the shareholders committee at Bayer 04, believes the club is in a good position: "I'm very happy that Fernando Carro will continue his successful work for Bayer 04 Leverkusen over the long term. He has been outstanding in representing the club at home and abroad. His voice has increasing weight and that also does Bayer 04 good."
The Werkself have qualified for European competitions in all of the four years since Carro took up his post. The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane have achieved the best finish in six years with third place in the Bundesliga ensuring direct qualification for the Champions League.
At the Werkself, Carro has primarily promoted the development and professionalism of the football company with a staff of now around 300. In addition, he has worked with the retiring sporting managing director Rudi Völler and his successor Simon Rolfes in the transition of responsibilities on the footballing side.
The 57-year-old has represented Bayer 04 as a board member on the European Club Association (ECA) since 2021. Carro is also involved with various UEFA working parties – including the committee that prepared the decisions around Champions League reform 2024.
Fernando Carro: "The emotional and dynamic environment of football means a lot to me just as much as the professional parameters offered at Bayer 04. We have already been able to achieve much together. Now it is all about making the maximum of the solid foundations and us being able to continue to improve. We are pursuing ambitious targets in all areas of our organisation. We want a modern and innovative club that is, above all, successful on the pitch."

In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
Show more
The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
Show more
The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
Show more
Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
Show more