Bayer Leverkusen Dominates Genk in Pre-Season Victory
Bayer Leverkusen’s summer tune‑up is starting to sound ominously like a finished product.
Back at the compact Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday, in front of their own, Carles Martínez’s side dismantled Genk 4-0, extending a flawless pre-season and offering another glimpse of a squad that already looks sharp, ruthless and perfectly aligned with its coach.
Moreira steals the show again
Afonso Moreira is turning this pre-season into his personal announcement tour.
The summer signing once again found the net, keeping his streak of scoring in every warm-up game alive, then capped his evening by laying on the fourth goal. Four games, four goals, and now an assist: the numbers are starting to demand attention rather than invite curiosity.
His finish this time was clinical, the kind of composed strike that suggests instinct rather than luck. A couple of minutes later, he threaded a clever ball into the path of Christian Kofane, who finished off a slick move 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.
Belocian sets the tone
Leverkusen didn’t need long to settle into their stride.
Jeanuel Belocian broke the deadlock after Edmond Tapsoba sliced Genk open with an incisive through pass from deep. One pass, one run, one assured finish. It was the kind of vertical aggression that has become a hallmark of this side: defenders who don’t just defend, but launch.
Loïc Badé thought he had joined the party soon after, only to see his “perfect” goal wiped out by an offside flag. The frustration was brief. The dominance was not.
Tella and Hofmann punish Genk high up
The pressure finally told again before the break.
Leverkusen won the ball back in the final third, swarming Genk as they tried to play out. Jonas Hofmann pounced, slipped a neat pass into Nathan Tella’s stride, and the winger did the rest to double the lead. It was a goal carved directly from Martínez’s pressing blueprint: win it high, punish immediately.
By half-time, Genk were chasing shadows. By the hour mark, they were chasing fresh legs.
Second-half burst before the reset
Before Martínez rang the changes on the hour, Leverkusen turned the screw.
Two quickfire goals after the restart killed any remaining suspense. Moreira’s precise strike stretched the scoreline, and his assist for Kofane moments later underlined the fluency running through the attacking unit. The wholesale substitution that followed felt less like a necessity and more like a luxury.
Pre-season is supposed to be about rhythm, conditioning, and ideas. Leverkusen already look like they’re several steps ahead on all three counts.
The real question now is not whether Moreira is ready to start the season as first-choice left winger. It’s how long anyone can keep him out of the spotlight once the competitive games begin.
