While the opening seminar in the middle of March in Madrid with Mario Gomez (RB Leipzig technical director) and Paul Mitchell (Newcastle United sporting director) was held with the title of Football Governance and Sports Strategies, this time in Leverkusen the main subject area covered was Legal Framework and Business Skills.
The second of a total of three sessions that was held at the BayArena included the long-serving England manager Gareth Southgate, the former DFB official Oliver Bierhoff plus former players Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Tamás Hajnal. Other participants came from clubs including AS Monaco (France), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) and Ferencváros (Hungary).
"The sessions offer very interesting input from completely different angles," said Bayer 04 director of football Kim Falkenberg, who officially welcomed the participants to Leverkusen and then reported on the structure and operating methods plus the development of recent years at the German double winners. Falkenberg is also a participant on the course.
The third and final seminar with the title of Evolution of Football and new Technologies will be held next month in Nyon at the UEFA headquarters.
The Sporting Director Programme:
The Sporting Director Programme (SDP) was developed to give sporting directors practical and strategic skills plus leadership qualities needed for modern football management. The programme consists of three face-to-face seminars at the UEFA headquarters and at top European clubs plus two online master classes covering all aspects of running a successful football operation from squad planning to recruitment and making crucial decisions. Further information is available HERE.
The fourth European away trip of the season in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 takes the Werkself to the Greek capital. Head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team are away to Greek double winners Olympiacos on matchday seven in the UCL league phase. The match at the Karaiskakis Stadium is on Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET). We'll be taking you on a trip to Athens and reporting on the Werkself close-up...
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A great honour for Bayer 04 Women's German international: as part of the 2025 Sports Awards, Carlotta Wamser entered her name into the City of Leverkusen's Golden Book. On Tuesday, she looked back on a special year in a talk in the Morsbroich Castle hall of mirrors.
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It was a disappointing night in Athens: The Werkself lost 2-0 away to Olympiacos on Matchday 7 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. In a match that was intense and fiery from the outset, the high-pressing home side made the better start and took the lead through Costinha on two minutes. Although the Werkself had a number of chances to equalise, the clinical Greek side increased the lead to 2-0 shortly before half-time (45+1’). In the second half, Leverkusen once again gave their all and showed total commitment but, despite their best efforts, the Black and Reds were unable to break down the Olympiacos defence on the night.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed a loan deal with Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach for Argentinian striker Alejo Sarco. The 20-year-old joins Mönchengladbach with immediate effect for the rest of the season.
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The Werkself are away to Greek double winners Olympiacos on matchday 7 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. Tonight, 20 January (kick-off: 22:00 local time/21:00 CET), Bayer 04 will not only face a familiar face in Panagiotis Retsos, but also an experienced and successful team in their Greek top-flight opponents. The Olympiacos midfield and forward line in particular are peppered with seasoned veterans from top European clubs - but even they will first have to find solutions against the Werkself defence that has recently performed with aplomb in the UCL. The matchday news.
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