Simon Rolfes, sporting managing director at Bayer 04, Kim Falkenberg, head of recruitment at Bayer 04, and Paulo Sergio, Bayer 04 legend, began the day with a breakfast with local members of the media where subjects for discussion included current developments at the club.
After talking to the media, the Bayer 04 delegation made their way to the Colegio Benjamin Constant primary school to take part in a training session with the schoolchildren. Rolfes launched the session with motivational words for the children while Sergio did tricks with the ball that made him one of the most dangerous strikers in the world when he played for Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and AS Roma. Hundreds of schoolchildren watched excitedly, joined in with the session along with Simon Rolfes and Kim Falkenberg and encouraged each other in a relaxed atmosphere.
The Trophy Tour and the day ended with an evening at the Goethe-Institut in São Paulo where the Bayer 04 documentary 'A Dream Comes True' we showed for the first time with Portuguese subtitles. The three former Bayer 04 players Paulo Sergio, Zé Roberto and Henrique joined the audience. The players shared their views of the historic double winning season for the Werkself. The trio also recalled their time at Leverkusen and emphasise the ability of the club to successfully integrate players from different cultures over the years. Sergio played under the Cross from 1993 to 1997, Zé Roberto followed shortly after that from 1998 to 2002 and Henrique joined on loan a couple of years later in the 2008/2009 season.
The four part documentary of the double season, produced by Prime Video, Warner Brothers and in partnership with Bayer 04, was first broadcast in German-speaking countries in September and is now being made available in other global target markets by TV Globo.
Rolfes summed up the tour as follows: "Our days here were quite tiring, it's such a big city full of energy. But the programme, cultural impressions and, above all, talking to so many people were great and inspiring – for Bayer 04 but also for me personally."
For a long time, it looked like Bayer 04 would claim their first Bundesliga victory of the season, but the Werkself were frustrated after the final whistle. The 3-3 draw away at Werder Bremen left the players with long faces and disappointed reactions. The Werkself review
Show moreBayer 04 are still without a win in the Bundesliga after two games following a 3-3 draw away at Werder Bremen. Leverkusen had gone 2-0 up through Patrik Schick and Malik Tillman, before Romano Schmid’s penalty prior to half-time. Schick’s own spot-kick restored the two-goal advantage in the second half as Werder were reduced to 10 men, but Isaac Schmidt got the hosts back into it again before Karim Coulibaly’s added-time equaliser.
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Show moreBayer 04 make their second attempt at picking up their first three points of this Bundesliga season as they visit Werder Bremen on Saturday. The hosts may be struggling with injuries and reeling from back-to-back defeats to kick off the campaign, but they’ll want to put that right in their first home outing. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the match, which kicks off at 3.30pm CEST.
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