'It won't happen next time': Leverkusen play down Boniface tunnel walk-off after 4-3 thriller at Mainz

Victor Boniface's frustration at his bit-part role boiled over on Saturday, with the Bayer Leverkusen striker marching straight down the tunnel after being left an unused substitute in his side's 4-3 win at Mainz — though the club have moved swiftly to play the incident down.

Leverkusen held on for a narrow victory in a seven-goal thriller at the MEWA Arena that lifted them to fourth in the Bundesliga table, but Boniface was once again reduced to the role of spectator. When head coach Carles Martinez made his final two substitutions in the 84th minute, the Nigeria international headed straight for the dressing room rather than return to the bench.

It continues a deeply frustrating start to the campaign for Boniface, who hit double figures for goals across all competitions in each of his first two seasons with Leverkusen, yet has played just five minutes of football this term.

Martinez: 'If that's what happened, we'll speak to him'

Martinez admitted the walk-off had escaped his attention in the heat of the match, but promised the matter would be addressed.

“I didn't notice it during the game. I don't know anything about it. If that's what happened, we'll speak to him,” Martinez told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “I can understand that every player wants to help the team. At the same time, these decisions are part of football. At that moment, I decided to make those substitutions.”

Rolfes offers a lighter take

Sporting managing director Simon Rolfes, meanwhile, chose humour over crisis talk when asked about the striker's actions.

“I don't know, maybe he needed to go to the toilet,” Rolfes said. “Perhaps he went into the dressing room a little too early. It won't happen next time.”

A rare sour note amid a strong run

Aside from the Boniface episode, Leverkusen's season is gathering pace. After opening the campaign with a shock 3-2 defeat to promoted Elversberg, they are now unbeaten in their last four Bundesliga games (three wins, one draw) — a run that includes their previous league outing, a 2-0 defeat of RB Leipzig reported on 21 September, before which Martinez had insisted everyone at the club was “pulling in the same direction”.

Their 10 points at this stage are two more than they had after five games in 2025-26, while the last time Leverkusen had more at this point of a season was in their title-winning 2023-24 campaign, when they sat on 13.

There has been no shortage of entertainment, either: Leverkusen have now scored two or more goals in all seven of their competitive matches under Martinez.

For now, at least, the club's message on their frustrated striker is clear — it won't happen next time.