From Old Trafford to Rio: Ten Hag's New Era Begins with Humbling Loss, Crushed in Friendly as Flamengo Run Riot

Erik ten Hag’s first match in charge of Bayer Leverkusen ended in disaster, as the German side were dismantled by Flamengo in a 5-1 pre-season defeat in Rio.

Erik ten Hag endured a brutal welcome back to coaching as Bayer Leverkusen were handed a crushing 5-1 defeat by Brazilian side Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro. It was his first match in the dugout since being sacked by Manchester United in October, and one he’ll want to forget quickly.

The friendly, intended as a warm-up for the new season, turned into a rout within minutes. Leverkusen were 2-0 down inside the first ten minutes, and Flamengo piled on two more goals to make it 4-0 by half-time. German outlet Bild summed up the mood by calling the performance “a debacle.”

Ten Hag, who replaced Xabi Alonso at the Bundesliga champions last month, fielded a lineup including Mark Flekken, Victor Boniface, Jonas Hofmann, and former Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah. But even with that experience, Leverkusen were outclassed and overrun from the outset.

In a telling move, both Flekken and Boniface were subbed off before halftime, with just 36 minutes played. Niklas Lomb and Alejo Sarco came on, but the damage was already done. Flamengo’s intensity and pace proved too much for a side clearly struggling to adapt after the departures of key players like Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Jonathan Tah.

Leverkusen did manage a late consolation goal through Montrell Culbreath, but it did little to mask the damage. While it was only a pre-season friendly, the manner of the defeat will raise questions about the team’s readiness and cohesion under their new manager.

Ten Hag, however, wasn’t reading too much into the scoreline. “The result looks bad, but I don't really care about results in pre-season,” he said post-match. “We should never lose, even by a large margin, but it was important to me not to lose any players.”

His next test will come against Bochum next Saturday, offering a chance to respond and perhaps tighten the ship before the Bundesliga season looms closer.