Ten Hag unfazed as Leverkusen bow ends in 5-1 humiliation to Flamengo U20s

Erik ten Hag was unperturbed as his first pre-season game in charge of Bayer Leverkusen ended in a 5-1 humiliation to Flamengo Under-20s.

The former Manchester United boss was appointed as the successor to Xabi Alonso, who departed to take over from Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.

However, things did not go to plan in South America despite the likes of Victor Boniface and transfer window signing Mark Flekken starting the game.

The Dutchman, in quotes reported by Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger, accepted his team should never lose by such a scoreline but was keen not to put too much emphasis on a pre-season result and seemed to suggest the timing of the game played a factor in the result.

Full-time in Rio.90+4' | 5-1 | #FLAB04 | #esquentaB04 pic.twitter.com/Fz9MEK3dTw
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) July 18, 2025

"I don't want to lose a game. The result looks bad, we can never lose by that much, but I don't give a damn about results in pre-season," he said.

"I knew beforehand that we couldn't field a good team for the full 90 minutes.

"The most important thing was to stay fit. It would have been better to play the game later."

Leverkusen are next in against Bochum on July 27. They face Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the DFB-Pokal on August 15 and welcome Hoffenheim eight days later for their Bundesliga opener.