Flamengo U20 5-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Heavy defeat in ten Hag’s first test

Leverkusen suffered heavy defeat in first preseason game.

Bayer Leverkusen get off to the worst possible start with a 5-1 defeat to Flamengo U20 in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazil Serie A club made a great impression in the Club World Cup, including beating eventual champions Chelsea and showing a great fight in a narrow defeat to Bayern Munich in the Round of 16.

However, this was Flamengo’s U20 team that went 4-0 ahead at the half-time break. Erik ten Hag’s side started the game with a clear intention of attacking football, but they were caught with a quickfire counterattack goal right away.

New-signing Mark Flekken, Arthur, Amine Adli and Victor Boniface started the game with Jonas Hofmann wearing the captain’s armband. However, the Dutch goalkeeper and Boniface were subbed off when the score was 2-0 in the 36th minute.

Including the sought-after midfielder Granit Xhaka, Ten Hag subbed on eight more players from the double-winning team at the hour mark, but Flamengo U20 were leading 5-0 by then. 17-year-old Montrell Cullbreath scored Die Werkself’s only goal twenty minutes before the final whistle.

Unlike Leverkusen, who were just playing their first preseason fixture after a long flight, Flamengo U20 are in the middle of a league season. They sit fifth in the Brasileiro U20, trailing league leaders Palmeiras by 12 points after 18 rounds. The crowd at Estadio da Gavea also created a great atmosphere in the 4,000-seated arena.