Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after only two Bundesliga matches

Former Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag was officially sacked on Monday by Bayer Leverkusen, the German club announced. Ten Hag took charge of Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, after Xabi Alonso ended his highly successful, title-winning spell to leave the German team to join Real Madrid ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup. After a disappointing coaching spell at Manchester United, Ten Hag hoped to start a new chapter in the German Bundesliga, but was sacked after the second match of the league season. Leverkusen lost the opening home game of the season to Hoffenheim before drawing 3-3 against 10-man Werder Bremen in the second game of the Bundesliga season.

Bayer Leverkusen managing director Simon Rolfes spoke to the official website of the German club about the unexpected decision. "It was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step. 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."

Fernando Carro, Bayer Leverkusen CEO, said: "A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary. 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. Now it's a matter of fully implementing and utilizing these conditions again."

It was a busy end of August for some managers around Europe, especially when it comes to former Manchester United coaches. Last week Besiktas sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjær after failing to qualify for the UEFA Conference League's league phase while Fenerbahce parted ways with Jose Mourinho after the Champions League's playoff elimination against Benfica on Wednesday. And now. a few days later, Bayer Leverkusen decided to fire ten Hag and will now look for another head coach after a disappointing start of the 2025-26 season.