Bayer Leverkusen sack Erik ten Hag after TWO league games in charge

Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen just over three months after he was appointed.

The Dutchman joined the Bundesliga side in May as the replacement for Xabi Alonso, who moved to Real Madrid, hoping to rebuild his reputation after a difficult spell at Manchester United.

But he took charge of just three first-team games, a 4-0 DFB-Pokal win at Grossaspach and the Bundesliga clashes with Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen.

The Hoffenheim game ended in a 2-1 defeat while Leverkusen drew 3-3 at Bremen on Saturday but squandered a 3-1 lead against 10 men in the closing half hour.

It has been a tricky summer for Leverkusen with several members of the team that swept to the Bundesliga title under Alonso in the 2023/24 campaign leaving the club.

Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong and Granit Xhaka have all departed with replacements like Malik Tillman, Jarell Quansah and Loic Bade coming in.

Not an easy decision – Leverkusen

A club statement read: “Bayer 04 Leverkusen has parted company with head coach Erik ten Hag with immediate effect. This decision was made by the Shareholders’ Committee, the supervisory body of the club, on the recommendation of Bayer 04’s management. The assistant coaching staff will temporarily assume coaching duties.”

Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said: “This decision was not an easy one. No-one wanted this step. However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this line-up has not been productive. We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything in our power to take the next steps in our development.”

Fernando Carro, the chairman of the Board of Management, added: “A separation at this early stage of the season is painful, but we believe it was necessary. Our goal remains to achieve our set goals for the season – this requires the best possible conditions at all levels.”

Ten Hag sacked for second time in 10 months

Ten Hag joined United in the summer of 2022 and performed well initially, leading the club to third in the Premier League and their first silverware in six years after winning the EFL Cup.

His second season was a mixed bag with an eighth-placed finish offset by winning the FA Cup.

But things started to turn sour at the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

United won just three of their opening nine league games and the axe fell following a 2-1 defeat at West Ham in October.