Erik ten Hag’s first sport accountable for Bayer Leverkusen resulted in humiliation as they had been thumped 5-1 by Flamengo’s Underneath-20 aspect.
Ten Hag replaced Xabi Alonso in May following the Spaniard’s resolution to take over at Actual Madrid.
The previous Manchester United boss will likely be hoping to emulate the success Alonso loved in his time at Leverkusen, throughout which they dethroned Bayern Munich as Bundesliga champions in 2023-24 and received the DFB-Pokal. Their solely defeat in that marketing campaign was a 3-0 loss to Atalanta within the Europa League closing.
Leverkusen completed second final season, however they appeared a good distance from their former glories below Alonso in a humbling defeat in Rio de Janeiro.
“The outcome seems unhealthy, however I don’t actually give a shit about pre-season outcomes. We mustn’t ever lose, not by that margin too,” Ten Hag informed Bild.
“However it was essential to me that I didn’t lose any gamers. It could have been higher to play the sport later.
“At Leverkusen, we even have excessive expectations when the gamers are younger. However we mustn’t decide them too harshly.”
Leverkusen goalkeeper added: “Lukas Hradecky was equally shocked by the standard with the Rio de Janeiro membership’s ranks.
“I understood them to be a blended staff [with pros] similar to us. However this was actually an excellent lesson for the younger gamers, to compete at this excessive stage.
“No surprise that so many skills are right here and are available to Europe on a regular basis – they impressed me very a lot and deserved to win.”
