It’s not surprising that RB Leipzig fired Marco Rose, but it is surprising it took this long. Does Jurgen Klopp get involved?RB Leipzig, and the Red Bull group in general, aren’t going to win many popularity contests in Germany, so this season was met with a bunch of schadenfreude by many (including me). Some of it, perhaps, was envy because since getting involved in the game 15 years ago, they have gotten many more things right than wrong in terms of scouting. To this day, they’re arguably the only people to have gotten multiclub ownership right, so credit where credit is due.
But that’s what makes this campaign so astounding, much like the fact that they waited until after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat away to Borussia Monchengladbach before sacking manager Marco Rose.
RB Leipzig somehow managed to finish 32nd out of 36 teams in the Champions League. They’re sixth in the Bundesliga table and, somehow, they’re closer to Heidenheim in the relegation spots than they are to Bayern (this hardly irresistible 2024-25 version of Bayern, mind you) at the top of the league.
Under Rose, they’ve somehow gone backwards over three seasons, despite adding talent every year. The “SOS” frontline — Benjamin Sesko , Loïs Openda , Xavi Simons — is supposed to be one of the most gifted young attacks in Europe (and that’s before you get into the electric Antonio Nusa ), yet they rank in the bottom half of the league in goals and a paltry 13th in expected goals. And that’s the gifted part of the team. At the back, week in, week out, it’s a horror show.
It’s not clear any of these guys have improved year over year, and neither has the team. So the question now for me is whether Red Bull call upon their Global Head of Soccer, a guy named Jurgen Klopp, to help sort things out. Not to coach, obviously, but to find the right people.
Klopp’s former assistant, Pep Lijnders, was a disaster at their other club, Salzburg, but that notwithstanding, Klopp surely has something to contribute beyond being a figurehead. On the other hand, some have suggested he’s happy with a semi-ambassadorial role. (Or maybe he doesn’t want to sort through this mess?) If that’s the case, more power to him, but Leipzig need to find somebody who can get things right from the top down.
Quick hits 10. Paris Saint-Germain romp at Saint-Etienne , can clinch Ligue 1 title next week: Arithmetic will do its part next week (if not, the week after or the one after that) and Paris Saint-Germain will win Ligue 1 for the 11th time in the past 13 years. That part is not a surprise (Qatari investment definitively moved the needle). But what is remarkable is that this crown is unlike the others. The turn towards youth and intensity rather than marquee superstars and individual quality — not that there isn’t plenty of the latter on this team — is very real, and a ton of credit has to go to manager Luis Enrique. They’ve won 14 of 15 games (the one they didn’t win in that series was at home to Liverpool , when they deserved victory) and that’s a testament to consistency, something you don’t always associate with young teams. The 6-1 demolition of Saint Etienne (after going a goal down) only speaks to the hunger in this team.
9. Bayern Munich look better than the score line vs. St. Pauli : I know that some folks despair when Bayern don’t steamroll their opponents and the 3-2 score suggests more nerviness. But with a long injury list, the screws turned by Bayer Leverkusen ‘s win on Friday (which temporarily cut the lead to three points) and a visit from St. Pauli, the league’s third-stingiest defense, this wasn’t a gimme. Yet Bayern racked up 3.53 xG and the visitors’ second goal only came in garbage time. Plus Leroy Sané bagged two goals, and an on-form Sane ahead of his expiring contract is a nice bonus. They could have defended better on both goals, but let’s remember Eric Dier and Raphaël Guerreiro were thrown into the defensive mix. Most importantly, they don’t look like a side that’s weary or fatigued.
Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others to bring you the latest highlights and debate the biggest storylines. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only).
5. Defensive blunders nearly cost Real Madrid , but Kylian Mbappé comes to the rescue: Soccer is a low-scoring sport and the exceptional — whether a craven unforced error or a moment of genius — has an outsized impact. Real Madrid fell behind to two bits of abysmal defending against Leganes and ultimately won the game 3-2 thanks to a stunning Kylian Mbappe free kick. Carlo Ancelotti’s crew deserved the win for the chances they created, though again, they got the rub of the refereeing green: Mbappe’s “Panenka” penalty was the result of a dubious decision, and his winning free kick came off another dubious foul call. If you’re Ancelotti, you can probably write off the defensive blunders as so grotesque they’re unlikely to happen again. Among your positives, you can count Brahim Díaz ‘s performance (he made way for Vinícius , initially rested — like Rodrygo — after the international break) as well as Mbappe’s form: he’s making the centerforward role his own. That said, it would be nice if they could both win and not to have to fret until the final minutes, something they haven’t done in more than a month.
4. Marcus Rashford revival? Sure, but it’s more about Aston Villa not turning their nose up at loan deals: Things are turning out pretty good for Marcus Rashford. He’s getting minutes at Aston Villa since coming over on loan from Manchester United , he started both England games during the break and on Saturday he scored his first goals for his new club. Villa’s other attacking loanee, Marco Asensio , is doing even better, with seven goals since arriving from PSG. Villa are in the semifinals of the FA Cup (where they’ll face Crystal Palace ) and the quarterfinals of the Champions League (PSG up next) and they’re still in the hunt for a Champions League spot next season. Not a bad spot to be, and Unai Emery’s loan signings (chuck in Axel Disasi from Chelsea , too) are a big part of it. Big clubs, especially in England, traditionally avoid mid-season loans. Maybe they can learn something from sporting director Monchi and Emery, because Villas are turning into a win-win, for player and club.
play 1:18
Why loan signings Rashford and Asensio has worked out for Villa
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens discuss the success of Aston Villa’s loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio this season.
3. Maximilian Beier shines in Borussia Dortmund win. Where has he been all year? Beier arrived in the summer as the club’s “other” big signing in the forward line, playing second fiddle to Serhou Guirassy . Sure, he didn’t score 28 goals like Guirassy, but he did notch 16, all of them from open play, turning out for a worse team (Hoffenheim). Yet of the 27 occasions he’s been in the match day squad in the Bundesliga this season, nearly half the time he has started on the bench … which is kinda odd given they spent €28.5m ($30m) in transfer fees for his services. Maybe he played the price for his versatility — Beier can play wide or as a centerforward — but whatever the case, he has really only started contributing in recent weeks under Nico Kovac. He bagged two goals in the 3-1 win over high-flying Mainz , and he did it playing in a front two with Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt in the hole. Guirassy was unavailable, and it’s unclear what the plan will be when he returns, but a talent like Beier should be playing a big part in Dortmund’s push for the Champions League. Which appears improbable at this stage — they’re 10th — but certainly not impossible.
2. Inter Milan gut out a win vs. Udinese , but this ought to be a warning sign: Live by the deep squad and heavy rotation, die by the deep squad and heavy rotation. Inter raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half-hour, and everything seemed rosy against Udinese. Simone Inzaghi — already without Denzel Dumfries , Lautaro Martínez and Alessandro Bastoni — left Nicolo’ Barella and Yann Bisseck on the bench and his team were solidly in control of the game … until they weren’t. The second half saw them fail to create much of anything, Udinese pulled one back and the last few minutes were nervy to the point that Inzaghi himself got booked. You can’t really blame him for load management given the onslaught of games coming up, but what’s evident is that this is going to be a slog and maybe his squad isn’t quite as deep as he hoped.
1. Copa del Rey now Atletico’s best (only?) shot after more dropped points: There’s a definite contradiction with Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. The narrative is that this is a deep squad, that his substitutions change games and that there’s a gritty, never-say-die, “Cholista” attitude that helps them gut out matches when it matters. A lot of the time, that’s the case, but on Saturday, we saw the opposite. They took the lead with a rare César Azpilicueta wonder goal versus relegation-threatened Espanyol and then, suddenly, went limp. An expected goals count of 0.10 in the second half tells its own story. A silly shirt-pull from Clément Lenglet, again one of Simeone’s experienced “warriors,” according to cliché, gifted Espanyol the penalty and cost Atleti two points. Sure, their South American players were tired after all that travel for World Cup qualifying, but Rodrigo De Paul and Julián Álvarez — both of whom came on after the break — had zero impact. The draw leaves them nine points back from the top, and the inescapable feeling is that now it’s all about the Copa del Rey and the return leg of their semifinal against Barcelona on Wednesday. Which, frankly, is a bit disappointing given how things were panning out this year. Maybe the “narrative” surrounding this club isn’t quite what they make it out to be.
Post navigation 
