Bayer Leverkusen Dominates Genk 4-0 in Pre-Season Match
Bayer Leverkusen’s pre-season is beginning to look ominous for anyone standing in their way.
Back at the compact Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, usually the stage for the club’s youth sides, Carles Martínez sent out a team that treated Genk like another rehearsal to be ruthlessly mastered. The result was a 4-0 win, a third straight victory, and another night when a new signing stole the spotlight.
Moreira’s streak rolls on
Afonso Moreira is wasting no time introducing himself. The former Lyon attacker has now scored in every pre-season outing for Leverkusen, and this one was no different. His finish for the third goal was cold and precise, the mark of a player already comfortable in his new colours. A couple of minutes later he turned creator, threading the assist for Christian Kofane to make it four.
In a squad where Kerim Alajbegovic and Martin Terrier are edging towards the exit, Moreira is not just filling a gap on the left flank; he is staking a claim to own it. On this evidence, he is close to undroppable.
Belocian breaks it open
The tone of the evening was set early. Edmond Tapsoba, stepping out from the back with the kind of authority that has become his trademark, sliced Genk open with an incisive through ball. Jeanuel Belocian, alert and aggressive from the first whistle, burst onto it and finished to open the scoring.
Leverkusen thought they had doubled their lead when Loïc Badé powered home, only for the defender to see his effort ruled out for offside. It did little to slow the tempo. The hosts kept the ball moving, kept the pressure on, and Genk never looked settled.
Tella strikes before the break
The second goal came from exactly the kind of play Martínez demands. Leverkusen hunted in packs high up the pitch, won the ball back in the final third, and within seconds Genk were punished.
Jonas Hofmann supplied the final pass, sliding the ball across for Nathan Tella, who made no mistake to make it 2-0 before half-time. It was a goal built on intensity and intelligence, the sort of pattern that tends to survive the jump from pre-season to competitive action.
Wholesale changes, same ruthlessness
By the hour mark, the work for the starting group was done. Martínez changed the entire lineup, but the rhythm barely dipped. If anything, the fresh legs sharpened the edge.
Moreira’s clinical strike pushed the scoreline to three, his fourth goal of the summer and another reminder of his instinct in front of goal. Then came the flourish: a well-worked move finished by Kofane after Moreira again found the right pass at the right moment.
Leverkusen walked off with a clean sheet, four goals, and a growing list of players in form. Pre-season can deceive, but patterns matter. The defending champions look deep, hungry, and already clear on their hierarchy out wide.
If this is how Moreira plays while still settling in, what happens when the real games start?
