Coach Ten Hag: Leverkusen to 'remain calm and continue to work'

Coach Erik ten Hag was disappointed after losing his Bundesliga debut as his Bayer Leverkusen team crashed 2-1 against Hoffenheim and said they have "a lot of work to do."

"We have to remain calm, continue to work and use every day," he said after Saturday's defeat.

Captain Robert Andrich said he couldn't think of many chances for Hoffenheim in the game, "but neither can I think of many for us. That's why it wasn't enough for a win today."

Ten Hag took over from Xabi Alonso, who has left along with a number of players including Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Granit Xhaka, Jeremie Frimpong and Lukas Hradecky.

All helped Leverkusen claim a historic unbeaten German League and Cup double in 2024, followed by a Bundesliga runner-up finish last term.

Ten Hag started his reign with a 4-0 win against Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the Cup, but couldn't repeat the success story in his Bundesliga debut.

"Of course we're not where we want to be, but as long as we work hard, we will achieve that. We will give everything to improve from the mistakes we did today," summer signing and goalscorer Jarell Quansah said.

Quansah was among a group of four players who made their Bundesliga debut, the others being Ernest Poku, Christian Kofane and Claudio Echeverri.

Leverkusen will now shift the focus for their second league game against Werder Bremen next Saturday, in which "we want to get the three points," Andrich said.