Erik ten Hag visibly stunned and 'hurt' as reporter asks 'disgusting' question after Bayer Leverkusen's defeat to Chelsea

Erik ten Hag was left stunned after a reporter asked the former Manchester United manager a 'disgusting' question following Bayer Leverkusen's defeat to Chelsea.

Leverkusen lost 2-0 to the Blues on Friday evening in what was their final pre-season friendly.

Ten Hag will take charge of his first competitive game at his new club when they take on Grossaspach in the DFB Pokal next Friday.

After the Chelsea defeat, however, the Dutchman was left visibly stunned at one of the questions asked by a reporter.

Instead of asking Ten Hag about the Leverkusen match, the reporter instead brought up former United forward Cristiano Ronaldo, and a hat-trick he scored in Al Nassr's 4-0 victory over Portuguese side Rio Ave.

The reporter asked: "Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the players in the best shape right now. He scored a hat-trick yesterday. Is he still the problem?"

He was referring to Ten Hag's fall-out with Ronaldo that was one of the factors behind the Portuguese legend leaving Old Trafford in 2022 - but almost three years later, it isn't particularly relevant to the present day.

And Ten Hag, who was sacked by United in October, answered in diplomatic fashion: "For me, it's no problem. He was never the problem. I think that's the past. It was what happened - it's the past.

"After that, we won two trophies at Manchester United. I wish him all the best for the future, and I wish him the best of luck still."

Reacting to the question, one fan wrote on Twitter: "No need for that from the reporter."

A second noted: "Look how hurt he looked by that question... proper blindsided him!"

A third agreed: "There was absolutely no reason for that question."

And a fourth said: "This question is classless and bizarre."

Ten Hag responds to Man Utd question

Elsewhere, Ten Hag was also asked about the end of his time at Manchester United - and gave a definitive response.

"It's not about Manchester United," he said. "It's closed. I'm moving forward. I'm really happy to be back [in management].

"I'm really enjoying the last couple of weeks, being back with the team, training, working on the game model, selecting the team, working with the whole squad. It's a pleasure for me to be at Leverkusen - we have a good club, we have a good team and we're going to improve.

"I love to win trophies and that is my challenge at Leverkusen."