Bundesliga
Robert Andrich explains Nathan Tella’s heated moment in Leverkusen’s loss to Augsburg
Bayer Leverkusen captain Robert Andrich has shed light on the brief on-field altercation involving Nigerian forward Nathan Tella during their 2–0 loss to FC Augsburg on Saturday.
Leverkusen entered the WWK Arena on the back of a morale-boosting DFB-Pokal win over Borussia Dortmund, but they were rocked early as Dimitrios Giannoulis and Anton Kade struck within the opening 30 minutes.
Despite controlling the game afterward, Die Werkself struggled to break down Augsburg’s compact defence.
Tella was brought on in the second half and nearly halved the deficit in the 75th minute when the ball dropped invitingly to him in the box, but he failed to convert.
“That was symbolic of the way things went for us,” Andrich told BILD, referring to Tella’s missed chance.
Moments later, tempers rose. Augsburg’s Kristijan Jakic caught Malik Tillman in the face, sparking a melee.
Tella reacted by pushing Jakic, but before the situation escalated, Andrich pulled his teammate away while issuing firm instructions on the pitch. Jakic and Tillman were both booked for the incident.
“We tried to rely too much on our play instead of matching Augsburg’s physical edge first,” Andrich explained. “They deserved their win—they blocked everything and won the duels. We didn’t do enough.”
Leverkusen’s Managing Director, Simon Rolfes, also backed Andrich’s intervention.
“As a captain, I did the same, pull a teammate out of trouble to save them from doing something foolish,” the former midfielder said.
Leverkusen now turn their attention to Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League meeting with Newcastle United at the BayArena.
It could be Nathan Tella’s final club appearance before linking up with the Super Eagles for AFCON 2025 duty.
