Alonso's successor ten Hag starts training in Leverkusen

He is following in big footsteps: Dutchman Erik ten Hag led his first training session at Bayer Leverkusen on Monday.

It's the beginning of a new era at Bayer – without successful coach Xabi Alonso and without exceptional player Florian Wirtz. Erik ten Hag is the new guy on the sidelines, and he's really excited about his new club. Despite extremely changeable weather with a few showers, his first session lasted an impressive 100 minutes. "The first training session was exciting and enjoyable. I was able to watch a few young players," said the 55-year-old after the warm-up under the Bayer cross.

Florian Wirtz leaves Leverkusen - transfer to Liverpool FC complete

Ten Hag takes on a difficult legacy

The successor to Alonso, who left for Real Madrid, follows in big footsteps. The 43-year-old Spaniard served as head coach for three years and led Bayer Leverkusen to the first league title in the club's history and to a DFB-Pokal victory in the 2023/24 season without a defeat. Last season, the club qualified for the Champions League again, finishing second in the Bundesliga .

The task for new coach ten Hag is further complicated by the fact that he has to build a partially new team. Playmaker Wirtz has moved to Liverpool FC. According to media reports, midfielder Malik Tillman is about to be signed from PSV Eindhoven in his position.

"Absorb departures through the team"

Leverkusen has brought in Englishman Jarell Quansah from Liverpool to replace central defender Jonathan Tah, who left for Bayern Munich. Mark Flekken, who joined from Brentford, could become the new number one goalkeeper in place of Lukas Hradecky. This means a lot of work for ten Hag, who promised: "We will rebuild the squad." However, there will likely be no exceptional player like Wirtz next season. "We have to compensate for the departures through the team," said the Dutchman.

Speaking of the team: It looked a bit of a mixed bag at the start of training. Many international players were still on vacation. The only summer signing on Monday was Algerian Ibrahim Maza (who joined from Hertha BSC for around twelve million euros). Instead, a whole host of talented players from Leverkusen's U19 team took to the pitch, completing numerous passing and running drills in front of a crowd of just under 100 spectators.

Ten days of preparation in Rio

Next Monday, the team will fly to Rio de Janeiro for ten days. Leverkusen will be the first Bundesliga club to complete part of its preseason training in South America. Training will take place at the grounds of Flamengo Rio de Janeiro, the club that was eliminated in the round of 16 at the Club World Cup by Bayern Munich.

On August 5, Leverkusen will celebrate the season opener with its fans at the BayArena, including a friendly against newly promoted Italian first division club Pisa SC. Leverkusen will play their season's dress rehearsal on August 8 at Chelsea FC in London. Bayer's first competitive match will be a first-round DFB Cup tie on August 15 against newly promoted fourth division club SG Sonnenhof Großaspach from Baden-Württemberg. Leverkusen will host TSG Hoffenheim for the Bundesliga kickoff one week later.

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