Erik ten Hag suffers humiliating defeat in first Bayer Leverkusen game and everyone is saying the same thing
Erik ten Hag got off to the worst possible start at Bayer Leverkusen, suffering an embarrassing defeat to the Under 20 team of Brazilian side Flamengo.
Ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United back in October following a poor start to the season and spent an extended period out of work, despite a number of offers to return to management.
The Dutchman elected to take the reins at Leverkusen, Bundesliga champions in 2024, after Xabi Alonso replaced Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.
With key players Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong departing for Liverpool, Ten Hag's first game in charge came against Flamengo's youngsters and could not have gone more wrong.
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The visitors found themselves 2-0 down inside 10 minutes and then 4-0 down at half-time to Flamengo, who made it 5-0 early into the second half.
Leverkusen pulled one back through 17-year-old Montrell Culbreath but the German side suffered a humiliating loss under their new manager.
The clash was shown live on the club's YouTube channel and fans on social media erupted with like-minded reactions.
One user on X commented: "Erik ten Hag starting well at Leverkusen then."
A second, a United supporter, said: "Trust the process! Ten Hag will fix the mess!"
A third added: "How’s bro losing to U20."
A fourth wrote: "He's just paying for the heinous crimes he committed at Manchester United."
Erik ten Hag refuses to rule out signing Manchester United player for a third time
Leverkusen have been busy in terms of incomings, signing Jarell Quansah from Liverpool and goalkeeper Mark Flekken from Brentford among others.
The club have been quietly linked with a move for United outcast Antony, whose stock increased after an impressive loan spell at Conference League finalists Real Betis.
Ten Hag signed Antony twice before at Ajax and United, paying £86 million in a move that didn't go to plan.
And the 55-year-old has refused to rule out reuniting with his "son" for a third time.
"He has great quality," Ten Hag told BILD, as per the Daily Mail.
"I signed him twice. He was like a son to me, he still is a son to me.
"We're not interested in him at the moment, but we'll see what happens in the future."
Topics: Erik Ten Hag, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen
Josh Lawless