Bayer Leverkusen Dominates Genk 4-0 in Pre-Season Opener

Bayer Leverkusen’s pre-season is starting to look ominous for the rest of Germany.

On a warm Wednesday at the compact Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, Carles Martínez sent out a side that looked sharp, ruthless and already in sync, sweeping aside Genk 4-0 and extending their flawless summer run. The venue might be the home ground for the club’s youth teams, but the performance belonged on a far bigger stage.

Belocian sets the tone

Leverkusen moved the ball with purpose from the start, and the breakthrough came with a defender’s finish at the end of a midfielder’s pass. Edmond Tapsoba stepped out from the back, split Genk’s lines with a piercing through ball, and Jeanuel Belocian did the rest, timing his run and slotting home to open the scoring.

Loïc Badé thought he had joined his fellow French defender on the scoresheet, only to see his effort ruled out for offside. It didn’t slow Leverkusen. It just underlined how aggressively their back line was pushing up and how high they were pinning Genk in.

The pressure told again before the interval. Leverkusen hunted in packs in the final third, forced a turnover, and from that chaos Jonas Hofmann picked his moment. His pass found Nathan Tella, who coolly doubled the lead and gave Martínez’s team a cushion their dominance deserved.

Moreira steals the spotlight

If the first half belonged to Leverkusen’s structure, the second half belonged to one man’s form.

Afonso Moreira, the summer signing who cannot stop scoring, struck again. Early in the second period, he finished with the calm of a player who has been here for years, not weeks, tucking away his fourth goal of pre-season. Four games, four goals. The pattern is becoming hard to ignore.

Genk briefly tried to regroup, but Leverkusen’s tempo never dropped. The hosts sensed there was more in the game, and Moreira was at the heart of it again. A few minutes after his goal, he turned provider, combining neatly before laying on a well-worked assist for Christian Kofane to make it 4-0. One clinical strike, one crafted chance: a complete winger’s contribution in the space of moments.

Only then did Martínez ring the changes, swapping out the entire lineup around the hour mark. By that point, the damage was done and the message was clear.

A left-wing battle with a clear leader

Behind the scoreline, the subtext of the afternoon sat on the left flank. With Kerim Alajbegovic and Martin Terrier edging towards the exit door, the competition for that starting role has opened up. Moreira is not just nudging ahead; he is sprinting into the distance.

Goals in every game. An assist to round off this one. Intelligence in his movement, conviction in his finishing, and the confidence to demand the ball in dangerous areas. Pre-season can flatter, but it can also reveal. Right now, it is revealing a winger who looks ready to be trusted when the real games start.

Leverkusen’s summer is still young, yet their new signing has already forced a serious question: when the Bundesliga season kicks off, how could he possibly be left out?