Fernando Carro might be the CEO with one of the most interesting stories at any European club, and now he is being hailed for what he has created at Bayer Leverkusen.
In the 1970s, he was a child fan of Barcelona, with no real connection to football, then in the 1980s he was a journalist in Austria, a student who earns his living by teaching at a university. By 2024 he had led Bayer Leverkusen to its first trophies since 1993, reaping the rewards after backing Xabi Alonso.
Alonso’s side set a new European record for consecutive competitive matches without a loss (49), breaking Benfica’s record of 48 games unbeaten set between 1963 and 1965, but the run would end after 51 matches, following a 3–0 defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League final.
Die Werkself won the DFB-Pokal – beating Kaiserslautern from the second division in the final – and completed an undefeated domestic double. That meant they lost just once in 53 games in the entire season.
Carro spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published on the morning of Milan’s Champions League game against Leverkusen and he gave his thoughts on a number of interesting topics.
A Spaniard as CEO of Leverkusen. How is that possible?
“I have to start from the beginning. I was born in 1964 in Barcelona and I studied at the German school because my father was passionate about Germany and classical music, especially Beethoven and Mozart.
“I was a sports fanatic, I bought Mundo Deportivo, Marca, Sport, AS – basically, all the Spanish sports newspapers – and I read them at school. Sports and German have always been with me.”
