Ten Hag plays down Leverkusen concerns after victorious home debut

Erik ten Hag moved to allay fears about the condition of Bayer Leverkusen duo Arthur and Axel Tape after overseeing a 3-0 friendly win over Pisa on his home debut.

The former Manchester United boss took charge of his first game at the BayArena on Tuesday, having recorded back-to-back friendly wins over Bochum and Fortuna Sittard.

Those results followed on from a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Flamengo’s under-20 side, but last season’s Bundesliga runners-up went through the gears against their Serie A opponents.

Robert Andrich steered an Alejandro Grimaldo free-kick home from inside a crowded six-yard box for the opening goal in the fourth minute, before the Spain left-back recorded another assist for Christian Kofane’s breakaway second 13 minutes later.

Exequiel Palacios thumped home on the volley from Amine Adli’s cross to cap the scoring just before half-time, but not everything went smoothly for Leverkusen.

A good test and a good win! pic.twitter.com/cAlAEaROJE

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) August 5, 2025

Edmond Tapsoba was sent off for a foul on Henrik Meister early in the second half, allowing Pisa into the contest as Mark Flekken was tested on numerous occasions.

But more worryingly, Leverkusen saw right-back Arthur – who made 20 Bundesliga appearances last season – limp off in distress just after the half-hour mark, while France under-18 defender Tape was also withdrawn with an injury in the 78th minute.

However, Ten Hag was not unduly worried about either player when speaking to reporters after full-time.

“They both wanted to continue, and that’s a good signal, but I took them out,” the Dutchman said.

Leverkusen visit Chelsea for their final pre-season friendly on Friday, before their domestic season starts with a first-round DFB-Pokal tie against fourth-tier Sonnenhof Grossaspach a week later.