Nathan Tella had not scored in 458 days. He picked the biggest moment of Leverkusen’s season to end that wait — a goal and an assist in a 4-1 demolition of RB Leipzig that fired his side back into the Bundesliga top four.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Champions League push received a massive boost on Saturday as they destroyed RB Leipzig 4-1 at the BayArena, with Nathan Tella at the heart of everything. The Super Eagles winger provided an assist in the 25th minute, then scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season just before half-time to send Leverkusen in at the break fully in control.
Patrik Schick did the rest, completing a hat-trick to seal the points. But it was Tella’s night, and Leverkusen head coach Kasper Hjulmand made sure everyone knew it.
A Night to Remember After 458 Days
The last time Nathan Tella scored a competitive goal was January 29, 2025 — a Champions League tie against Sparta Praha. That is 458 days of waiting, of injuries, of watching from the sidelines. Saturday was his answer.
Tella was everywhere in the first half. He picked up a quickly-taken goal kick inside the penalty area and squared it calmly to Schick, who drilled Leverkusen ahead in the 25th minute. Then, in the 45th minute, he timed his run perfectly onto a cross from Aleix Garcia and side-footed home to make it 2-0, his first league goal of the entire campaign.
A 9.2 Rating and a Joke About Schick
Tella played 77 minutes and earned a 9.2 out of 10 from Sofascore — one of the highest individual ratings of the Bundesliga weekend. When asked about his decision to square for Schick rather than shoot, he gave an answer that showed just how much the team spirit means to him.
“I had flashbacks to a time I didn’t pass to Patrik, and I could just imagine him screaming at me at halftime! So I saw him in the six-yard box and knew he couldn’t miss. When you have a striker like that, you just put it anywhere in the box and he’s going to score. It’s a pleasure to play with him.”
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What Hjulmand Said
After the match, Kasper Hjulmand wasted no time in picking out his Nigerian winger. The Leverkusen boss spoke to Liga Insider and praised Tella’s direct running as a key part of how his side unlocks opposition defences.
“He gives us a lot of energy and quality overall — especially in depth.”
It is a short quote, but it carries weight coming from a head coach who has seen Tella fight his way back through two separate injury layoffs this season. Since returning to full fitness, Tella now has one goal and three assists in his last seven Bundesliga appearances.
A Season Disrupted, Then Revived
This campaign has been a difficult one for Tella. A knee bruise ruled him out of the opening seven matches. A foot injury then wiped out another eight games. He arrived at this crucial final stretch of the season with just 17 league appearances to his name.
But the timing of his revival could not be better for Leverkusen. He made his 100th appearance for the club in their recent 2-1 win over Köln, providing an assist. He now follows that with a goal and an assist against Leipzig in a top-four six-pointer. There is no doubt the Super Eagles and Eric Chelle have been watching, with the Unity Cup coming up later in May. Fans following his Bundesliga comeback can track the odds at bet9japromotioncode.com.ng ahead of Leverkusen’s final two games.
Stuttgart Next — It All Comes Down to This
The 4-1 win lifted Leverkusen to fourth place in the Bundesliga standings on 58 points. They are level on points with VfB Stuttgart, who sit just below them on goal difference. Their next game is away to Stuttgart — a direct shootout for the final Champions League spot.
Win that, and Leverkusen are back among Europe’s elite. It is exactly the kind of high-stakes fixture that Tella has been building toward since his injury comeback. Those wanting to place on the Stuttgart showdown can get the latest detail from this Bet9ja booking code guide before the match kicks off.
📌 Did You Know?
- Nathan Tella’s last competitive goal before Saturday had come 458 days earlier, in Leverkusen’s 2-0 UEFA Champions League victory against Sparta Praha on January 29, 2025. Two separate injuries — a knee bruise and a foot problem — cost him the momentum he had been building that season.
- Tella joined Bayer Leverkusen from Southampton in the summer of 2023 for a reported fee of around £12 million. He became one of the first major signings of the post-Xabi Alonso era as the club moved to rebuild their squad after their historic unbeaten Bundesliga title campaign.
- He was part of the Leverkusen squad that completed the 2023/24 Bundesliga season unbeaten, winning Germany’s top division without losing a single league match — a feat unprecedented in Bundesliga history. Tella contributed with five goals and six assists that season.
- Tella’s 9.2 Sofascore rating against Leipzig on Saturday was one of the highest individual ratings recorded by a Nigerian player in the Bundesliga this season. It placed him above several of his teammates in the post-match performance rankings despite playing only 77 minutes.
- Patrik Schick, who scored Leverkusen’s other three goals in the 4-1 win, is a former RB Leipzig player himself, having spent a loan spell at the German club in 2019/20 before joining Leverkusen permanently in 2021. His hat-trick against his former employers added a personal edge to Saturday’s victory.
- Tella has represented Nigeria at senior level and featured at the 2025 Unity Cup. His last appearance for the Super Eagles came at that tournament. Eric Chelle is expected to rotate his squad for the upcoming Unity Cup defence in May 2026, which could give Tella a route back into the national team setup.
- Before making his name in England and Germany, Tella came through the Southampton academy and made his Premier League debut in 2020. He is one of a growing number of British-Nigerian footballers — alongside the likes of Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina — who have chosen to represent Nigeria over England at international level.
