• Erik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after two Bundesliga matches.
• The club finished second last season, and expectations were high following previous success.
• Leverkusen's poor start included a loss and a draw, leading to immediate pressure on Ten Hag.

Bayer Leverkusen has sacked manager Erik ten Hag after just two Bundesliga matches, as the club seeks to address challenges in their early season performance. Following a 2-1 loss to Hoffenheim and a 3-3 draw against ten-man Werder Bremen, which left the team five points behind league leaders Bayern Munich, the 55-year-old was unable to maintain his position. Leverkusen’s sporting director, Simon Rolfes, remarked, "This decision was not easy for us; nobody wanted to take this step," highlighting the adverse start to the season, according to BBC and Reuters.

Ten Hag's short tenure comes just months after he replaced Xabi Alonso, who enjoyed significant success with the club, leading them to their first Bundesliga title last season without a single loss. The club was optimistic about building on last year’s success despite having lost several key players, such as Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka, during the summer transfer window. Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro characterized the decision to part ways with Ten Hag as "painful but necessary" while reinforcing the need for favorable conditions to achieve the season's goals, according to SCMP and Al Jazeera.

In his previous managerial position at Manchester United, Ten Hag was dismissed following a dismal start to the Premier League season, where the team had only one win in eight matches. This current situation marks a new record for a Bundesliga coach, as Ten Hag is now the earliest managerial dismissal in the league's history, breaking the prior record of five matches, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera.