Simon Rolfes leads Bayer 04 Leverkusen delegation to Brazil Next Week

The “2024 Trophy Tour Brazil” is the second official intercontinental journey for the club this year and will be led by Simon Rolfes, Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Managing Director of Sport, accompanied by Kim Falkenberg, Head of Recruitment. The two executives will be joined in Sao Paulo by Bayer 04 Ambassador and Brazilian football hero Paulo Sergio. In September, CEO Fernando Carro represented the club on its initial “Trophy Tour” in New York City, USA.

In Brazil, Bayer 04 will reflect on last season’s historical success with partners, fans and the Brazilian football community. At the same time, the German Champions, DFB Pokal- and Supercup-Winners seek to further strengthen the bonds with Bayer offices globally and to explore various business opportunities in the region for the coming years. The rich heritage of Brazilian players at Leverkusen, including 21-year-old defender Arthur as a current representative, highlights the Latin American approach of Bayer 04.

“The history of Bayer 04 Leverkusen players is closely linked with Brazil,” said Rolfes. “There are so many great Brazilian stars and personalities that have contributed to our club over the decades, and we are proud to have had Arthur on our squad as part of three titles this past season. The trophies Arthur helped win are trophies that he has won for all the Brazilians that have played at Bayer 04 before. We are excited to represent our club and the Bundesliga on the whole throughout our visit next week.”

The delegation has four days of activities planned in Brazil from November 12-15:

• An initial reception at the Bayer Brazil headquarters in Sao Paulo and a special “Bayer Champions Night” event for guests and partners.
• Formal reception for the Bayer 04 delegation at the German Chamber of Commerce, together with German company representatives in Brazil.
• Kick-off a sustainability collaboration by visiting the “Green Mining” recycling station in collaboration with Plastiks.
• Kids clinic at Colegio Benjamin Constant school in Sao Paulo.
• Official Brazilian premiere of “A Dream Come True” documentary co-produced with Prime Video about the 2023-24 Leverkusen season and hosted by the Goethe-Institut São Paulo, the German organization for culture and education.
• Initial discussions about a football academy project in Sao Paulo as a prospective project for the future
• Various media appointments and photo opportunities throughout the week for Rolfes and Sergio.

“I have so many great memories of my years in Leverkusen” said Sergio, who played for the team from 1993-1997, making over 120 appearances. “It’s like a second family. While my generation was never able to win the league title for Leverkusen, all of us who played for Bayer 04 were so proud of what the team accomplished last year. I was lucky to have been able to travel to several games this spring to witness the historic season. It’s great to be able to share it with fans in Brazil.”

Leverkusen was only the fifth German club ever to win the domestic double and in the process became the first in Bundesliga history to finish the league campaign unbeaten. The team went 51 consecutive games without a defeat in 2023-24, the longest streak in the modern era, breaking the previous European record of 48 games without a loss set by Benfica in 1963-65. The streak continued all the way until the Europa League final in late May. The team then captured the Supercup in dramatic fashion on August 18th winning on penalties against Stuttgart to claim its 3rd trophy in 3 months: Meisterschale, DFB Pokal, Supercup.