So how do RBL keep pace with this fact? That’s the task facing Max Eberl, the longtime Borussia Monchengladbach sporting chief, who’s back in the game at Leipzig after taking almost a year out.
For a start, Leipzig have an excellent track record when it comes to succession planning. Losing Naby Keita, Ibrahima Konate and Upamecano hasn’t damaged RBL too much. It’s a plus when you’re able to stay ahead of those expected exits, identifying and signing the likes of Josko Gvardiol, Mohamed Simakan and Dani Olmo. Eberl’s contacts and eye for a player should only elevate this conveyor-belt aspect at the club, even if — as is likely — Bayern continue to come calling for the best of the rest in the Bundesliga.
RBL have been Champions League and Europa League semifinalists, and last May, bagged their first major trophy by overcoming the people’s choice, SC Freiburg, in the DFB-Pokal final.
They’ve gone from Gegenpressing to possession with Nagelsmann, to more Gegenpressing under Jesse Marsch, and then back to ball control with Domenico Tedesco. Now, coach Marco Rose has come up with an effective hybrid formula. To use an English-sounding expression now common in German, “the trend is your friend.” After pulling back a 3-0 deficit to draw at FC Augsburg in late October, Leipzig adroitly reeled off four successive wins against Bayer Leverkusen, TSG Hoffenheim, Freiburg and Werder Bremen, while their Champions League form showed a similar run of consecutive victories.
Against Bayern on Friday (2:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+ and ESPN2) however, Leipzig know they must swim against the tide of history having only ever defeated Germany’s foremost club once, in March 2018. Repeating that feat without the injured Christopher Nkunku won’t be easy, but there’s enough quality within Rose’s team for them to strike a blow for the chasing pack as a whole, especially against a Bayern team shorn for the next few months of Manuel Neuer.
RB Leipzig will remain largely unloved by the otherwise committed. Admire them or loathe them, though, they’re not going to be exiting the stage any time soon.
