Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat of the season, beaten 3-0 by Hoffenheim in Sinsheim on matchday 7 of the Bundesliga. Ibrahim Maza stayed silent, Moussa Diaby went off with a thigh injury.
The run ended in Sinsheim. Bayer Leverkusen, unbeaten in their last six competitive matches, went down 3-0 on the pitch at Hoffenheim on matchday 7 of the Bundesliga, according to bundesliga.com. A defeat that leaves its mark in the table, but above all in the treatment room: Moussa Diaby left his teammates just before half-time, hurt in the thigh.
Ibrahim Maza, for his part, finished the match. The 20-year-old attacking midfielder, an Algeria international, could not find the breakthrough despite two chances created by his feet. Leverkusen, short on luck and quickly overwhelmed after the restart, never managed to get back into it.
Kramarić breaks the deadlock, Prass doubles the lead
The match turned in the final quarter of an hour. Andrej Kramarić, the Hoffenheim striker, opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 79th minute: a goal that is none other than the 1,000th in the club’s Bundesliga history, reports fussballnationalmannschaft.net. Ten minutes later, Alexander Prass doubled the lead (89th), before being sent off for a second yellow card related to his celebration, specifies bundesliga.com.
The scoreline was made heavier in stoppage time: Max Moerstedt finished in the 90th+6, after a Kramarić strike came back off the crossbar. The home side’s dominance is confirmed by the expected goals statistics, 3.46 against 0.62 for Leverkusen according to beinsports.com.
Maza in the play, without the finish
Deployed in the attacking channel, Ibrahim Maza tried his luck. According to t-online.de, he set up Patrik Schick, who shot over the bar. Later, after the 3-0, it was he who sent the ball over the opposition goal as he tried to respond to Hoffenheim’s lead, reports insidebw.de. No luck for him in this match.
The context gives a little more relief to this goalless evening: before the match, the Algerian had two goals and two assists in the Bundesliga this season, according to africasoccer.com. Having arrived at Leverkusen in 2025 for a reported fee of €12 million, under contract until 2030 according to Wikipedia, Maza is continuing to settle into the squad.
Diaby and Badé, the real concerns
The evening could have been even heavier on the physical front. Moussa Diaby, the 27-year-old winger, had to leave the pitch in the 41st or 42nd minute, with sources differing slightly on the minute (ms-aktuell.de, 90min.de, ligainsider.de). Hurt in the thigh, he was replaced by Malik Tillman. Leverkusen have not communicated a precise diagnosis on him, indicates ms-aktuell.de: his availability for the upcoming matches remains open.
Before this match, Diaby had played five Bundesliga matches this season, with one goal to his name (ms-aktuell.de). Earlier in the game, Loïc Badé was taken off on a stretcher after a head clash with Moerstedt. Coach Carles Martínez gave a first reassuring answer on him, according to ms-aktuell.de and fussballnationalmannschaft.net.
A first blank under Martínez
For Leverkusen, this defeat is also a first in the Carles Martínez era: it is the first time his team have failed to score in a match, highlights insidebw.de. It brings an end to a run of six consecutive wins in all competitions and leaves the men of coach Christian Ilzer in a more comfortable position.
Thanks to this win, Hoffenheim, led by their coach Christian Ilzer, have climbed to 10th place in the Bundesliga, according to t-online.de. For Leverkusen, it will now be a matter of monitoring how the injuries to Diaby and Badé develop, while no date for the next match is specified in the sources consulted.