Erik ten Hag's first Bundesliga match with Bayer Leverkusen ended in defeat as Hoffenheim won 2-1 at the BayArena.
2025/2026 Bundesliga
1-2
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
6' GOAL! Leverkusen 1-0 Hoffenheim (Jarell Quansah)
25' GOAL! Leverkusen 1-1 Hoffenheim (Fisnik Asllani)
33' Highlight from Leverkusen vs Hoffenheim
50' Match Event for Leverkusen vs Hoffenheim
52' GOAL! Leverkusen 1-2 Hoffenheim (Tim Lemperle)
78' Match Event for Leverkusen vs Hoffenheim
Match Report
Fisnik Asllani starred for the visitors, levelling the scoreline following Jarell Quansah's opener and then assisting Tim Lemperle's winner to help Hoffenheim start their league campaign with a big triumph on the road.
Leverkusen got off to a quick start, with Quansah scoring six minutes into his Bundesliga debut after connecting with Alejandro Grimaldo's free-kick and heading past Oliver Baumann.
However, Quansah was caught cold at the other end when Asllani managed to evade him in the box before firing beyond Mark Flekken at the near post to equalise in the 25th minute.
Leverkusen's defending was called into question again when Hoffenheim took the lead seven minutes into the second half.
The hosts failed to deal with a long ball from Baumann and Asllani took full advantage, laying it off for Lemperle to strike into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box.
Ten Hag's side pushed for an equaliser, with Nathan Tella going closest when he hit the side-netting in the 78th minute, but their efforts proved fruitless.
— TSG Hoffenheim (@tsghoffenheim) August 23, 2025
Data Debrief: Hoffenheim snap losing streak
Hoffenheim went into Saturday's encounter having lost their last five Bundesliga matches against Leverkusen.
Asllani helped them turn the tables, though. The 23-year-old registered the most shots in the match (three), joint-most chances created (two), and completed the third-most passes in the final third for his side (eight).
It was a game of few clear-cut chances, as demonstrated by expected goals (xG) figures of 0.65 for Leverkusen and 0.57 for Hoffenheim, but it was the visitors who made the most of their opportunities.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, are now four Bundesliga games without a win – the last time they went more games in a row without a win was in April/May 2023 (five).
Line-ups
Leverkusen XI: Grimaldo, Mark Flekken, Andrich, Schick, A.García, Tapsoba, Tella, Hincapie, Quansah, Arthur, Ibrahim Maza
Subs: Janis Blaswich, Lomb, Ernest Poku, Echeverri, Sarco, Andrea Natali, Axel Tape, Jeremiah Mensah, Christian Kofane
Hoffenheim XI: Oliver Baumann, Kramaric, Vladimír Coufal, Bernardo, Koki Machida, Wouter Burger, Robin Hranac, Tim Lemperle, Fisnik Asllani, Leon Avdullahu, Bazoumana Touré
Subs: Akpoguma, Grischa Prömel, Luca Philipp, Alexander Prass, Arthur Chaves, Umut Tohumcu, Muhammed Damar, David Mokwa, Max Moerstedt