Erik ten Hag sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after three games - ESPN

Bayer Leverkusen have sacked head coach Erik ten Hag after just three matches in charge.

Ten Hag replaced Xabi Alonso as head coach in May and signed a two-year-contract. But Ten Hag's stay at Leverkusen has been brief after a poor start to the 2025-26 season.

Leverkusen lost their season opener against TSG Hoffenheim at home and then drew 3-3 with Werder Bremen at the weekend. They won their DFB-Pokal first round tie against fourth-tier SG Sonnenhof but since that match on Aug. 15, ex-Manchester United manager Ten Hag's tenure turned sour at the 2024 Bundesliga champions.

The decision was made by the shareholders' committee at the club and on the recommendation of Bayer's management.

It has been a summer of upheaval at Leverkusen with several of the stars who led them to the Bundesliga title in 2024 leaving the club.

Ten Hag took charge as Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Amine Adli, Odilon Kossounou, Granit Xhaka, Lukas Hradecky and Jonathan Tah all left the club.

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In response, Leverkusen spent in the region of €170 million ($199.31m) to rebuild the squad with Malik Tillman, Jarell Quansah, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Loïc Badé, Ibrahim Maza, Mark Flekken and Ernest Poku all arriving.

«This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,» Simon Rolfes, Bayer's managing director for sport, said.

«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.»

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