By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Bayer Leverkusen have sacked manager Erik ten Hag after two league games in charge with the weekend draw at Werder Bremen, the club has confirmed.
Ten Hag’s only home match in charge was a 2-1 defeat by Hoffenheim on the opening weekend of the league season. Jarell Quansah had scored an early opener for Leverkusen before the visitors turned it around.
“Nobody wanted to take this step,” Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes told the club website.
“However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible.We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup.”
Ten Hag, who managed Man United from 2022 to 2024, replaced Xabi Alonso, who led the team to the 2024 title and a runner-up finish last season. Alonso joined Real Madrid in the summer.
Leverkusen was Ten Hag’s first job since being sacked by Manchester United last October. He had previously worked in Germany with Bayern Munich’s B team.
The 55-year-old becomes the third former United manager to be sacked in the space of a week, after Ole Gunnar Solskjær by Besiktas and José Mourinho by Fenerbahce.