Carles Martinez said the apparent rift between Bayer Leverkusen duo Aleix Garcia and Robert Andrich had been exaggerated by the media, following Sunday's 2-1 win over Koln.

In the aftermath of Leverkusen's 1-0 loss to Marseille in the Europa League on Thursday, Andrich made headlines by publicly criticising Garcia's attitude, accusing him of failing to track back in the build-up to Amine Gouiri's decisive goal.

But Garcia responded on Sunday by opening the scoring with a lovely free-kick. Patrik Schick doubled Leverkusen's lead five minutes from time, with a stoppage-time strike from Said El Mala proving a mere consolation. 

After avoiding their first three-match losing run in the Bundesliga since August 2022, Leverkusen will spend the international break fifth in the table, five points behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the summit.

And Martinez has played down suggestions that the relationship between Garcia and Andrich had been made tense following the latter's midweek comments. 

"The two have a good connection and talk to each other. Sometimes things are exaggerated on the outside. Inside the group, life goes on," Martinez said.

"Errors are part of football. What matters is reacting and understanding why something happened. If the same situation comes around again, you have to deal with it differently. [Against Koln], he was more aggressive."

Just love  https://t.co/sbQOtoTIFp

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) November 8, 2026

Winger Ibrahim Maza also credited Garcia for his response, saying: "That shows his attitude and mentality. 

"You could see what an important player he is for us. He perhaps had a slightly difficult period in the last few games, and that happens. 

"He has played every game so far, and naturally that takes its toll physically and mentally.

"He answered with an incredible goal, and afterwards he had the game under control. I thought it was a great reaction from him."

Garcia tallied more touches (133) and successful passes (103/111) than any other player in Sunday's game, also leading the way for passes into the final third (30) and creating two chances – only Maza teed up more for Leverkusen. 

Leverkusen's next Bundesliga game is against Paderborn on November 21, with a trip to Borussia Dortmund to follow eight days later.