Don't Really Care! Ten Hag After 5-1 Loss To Flamengo U-20s On Leverkusen Debut
Erik ten Hag's debut as Bayer Leverkusen manager ended in a 5-1 loss to Flamengo's Under-20 team. Leverkusen struggled without key players.
Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag had a disastrous start at Bayer Leverkusen, facing a humiliating defeat against Flamengo's Under-20 team on Friday.
In his first game back in management since his dismissal by United last year, Ten Hag, who succeeded Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen last month, saw his side suffer a 5-1 loss in Brazil. This marked his first match in the dugout since his sacking by United last October.
Erik ten Hag watched as his new squad was thoroughly outplayed by the Brazilian team. Bayer Leverkusen might still be adjusting to life without Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah, all of whom departed at the end of the season after being pivotal in their title-winning campaign of 2023-24. Despite the fact it was only a friendly, the loss was significant.
How Bayer Leverkusen Lost?
Leverkusen's starting XI in the friendly in Rio de Janeiro included Mark Flekken, Jonas Hofmann, Victor Boniface, and former United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah. However, they found themselves 2-0 down within the first ten minutes and trailing 4-0 by half-time. Flekken and Boniface were substituted after just 36 minutes, with Niklas Lomb and Alejo Sarco coming on as replacements, possibly indicating early signs of trouble. Montrell Culbreath scored a consolation goal for Leverkusen in the dying minutes of the pre-season friendly.
Ten Hag's next challenge for Leverkusen is another friendly match against fellow German team Bochum next Saturday in Brazil.
After the match, Erik ten Hag did not want to give too much importance to the humiliating loss.
'The result looks bad, but I don't really care about results in preseason," he remarked. 'We should never lose, even by a large margin, but it was important to me not to lose any players.
'It would have been better to play the game later."
Bayer Leverkusen are the first Bundesliga club to have a pre-season tour in South America, with their visit to Rio de Janeiro from July 14 to July 24.
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