After Two Straight Benchings, Tillman Started Leverkusen's Derby Win Before USMNT Camp

Malik Tillman had started on the bench in Bayer Leverkusen's last two games, a league loss to Stuttgart and a 1-0 defeat to Marseille on Thursday. On Sunday, Carles Martínez put the U.S. international back in his lineup for the Rhine derby at Cologne, and Leverkusen won 2-1 in front of a sold-out crowd of 50,000. Tillman now heads to the USMNT camp for the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Haiti with his coach publicly backing him.

Martínez made three changes from the Marseille game, bringing in Equi Fernández, Afonso Moreira and Tillman for Robert Andrich, Lucas Vázquez and Jonas Hofmann, according to Cologne's official match report. Tillman played behind striker Patrik Schick, next to Ibrahim Maza, and lasted 76 minutes before Hofmann replaced him.

The 24-year-old has been criticized for not living up to his reported €35 million move from PSV in the summer of 2025, per Bulinews. After the game, Martínez addressed that directly.

"It wasn't easy for Malik. I know he had to deal with a lot of criticism, but we know him and his talent," the Leverkusen coach said. "I thought today was the right day, in this atmosphere and setting. Tactically, too, I felt Malik could create something alongside Ibo."

He added: "We were sure he was the right player, and he responded with a very good performance."

Tillman nearly scored in the first half. Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe made three saves in about a minute, turning a Schick shot around the post, pushing away Maza's effort from the corner and then getting up to stop Tillman. He also curled a shot from distance just wide.

The American Pitch's matchday review credited him with three defensive contributions and four duels won out of seven, which matters in a game that ended with 11 yellow cards. Aleix García scored with a free kick in the seventh minute and Schick made it 2-0 in the 85th, his eighth goal of the season, before Said El Mala volleyed in a cross from his brother Malek in stoppage time.

The win handed Cologne their first home loss of the season and took Leverkusen to 16 points, fifth in the Bundesliga after nine games and five behind leaders Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Tillman arrives with 39 caps and seven goals, per U.S. Soccer. The first leg is Nov. 14 in Miami and the second is Nov. 17 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, the first official games of Mauricio Pochettino's 2030 cycle.

Gio Reyna was originally on the list but withdrew injured and was replaced by Stoke City's Jack McGlynn, NBC Sports reported. That leaves Tillman as one of the few players in this group who is most comfortable in the No. 10 role, in an enviroment where Pochettino is still sorting out who creates for Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun.

One derby doesn't end the debate in Leverkusen. But Tillman goes into the international break having started the club's last game, with Martínez saying out loud that he believes in him.