Bayer Leverkusen have sacked manager Erik ten Hag after two league games in charge, the Bundesliga club said on Monday, with the weekend draw at Werder Bremen not enough to save the Dutchman’s job.
Leverkusen lost their opening league game 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim to put Ten Hag immediately under pressure, and Saturday’s 3-3 draw against 10-man Bremen brings an end to his short reign at the club.
“This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,” Leverkusen Sporting Director Simon Rolfes said in a statement.
“However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this set-up is not feasible.”
Ten Hag, who had been out of management since his sacking by Manchester United in October, replaced Xabi Alonso in May, after the Spaniard left to take over at Real Madrid.
Leverkusen finished second in the league last season, after Alonso had led them to the double in the 2023-24 campaign where they lifted their first Bundesliga title without losing a game.
Ten Hag’s task of emulating Alonso’s successful spell at the club was made all the more difficult by the close-season departures of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Jonathan Tah and Granit Xhaka, among others.
His Leverkusen career began with a 4-0 win over fourth-tier side Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the German Cup first round but, with the club already five points off leaders Bayern Munich, and a Champions League campaign on the horizon, Ten Hag has already run out of time.
“A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary,” Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said.
“We remain committed to achieving our goals for the season – and to do that, we need the best possible conditions at all levels and across the entire first team.”
HARRY POTTER
Before Saturday’s game, Ten Hag had said that he was no Harry Potter, and also spoke of the final days of the transfer window, but that will no longer concern the Dutchman.
“One or two things could still happen on the weekend for us and for the whole transfer market,” Ten Hag told reporters.
“On Tuesday we will know what it (the squad) will look like.”
Ten Hag is the first manager in Bundesliga history to take charge of a side in the close season and lose his job two league matches into the new campaign, but there have been shorter reigns in German football.
Jorg Berger was appointed by Arminia Bielefeld in 2009, with the club facing relegation ahead of the final game of the season. Berger’s side drew with Hannover 96 and finished bottom, which was the end of the manager’s spell in charge.
Ten Hag is not the only former Manchester United manager to lose his job in recent days, with Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer parting ways with Turkish clubs Fenerbahce and Besiktas respectively.
The 55-year-old Dutchman had his most successful spell in charge at Ajax Amsterdam, winning three league titles, and also won the FA Cup and League Cup at Manchester United where he was sacked with the club 14th in the Premier League standings.
