Leipzig and Rose bereft of answers as the Stuttgart daydream continues

Photo: Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images

August seems like a long time ago. On the balmy evening that introduced Harry Kane to an ecstatic Allianz Arena, it was actually RB Leipzig running the show, and how.

At the time, newly arrived Xavi Simons had stunned his new fans with how good he was, leaving Germany’s biggest club wondering why they didn’t have such a player and Paris Saint-Germain perhaps wondering why they hadn’t. I kept him instead of sending him out on loan. Since that impressive Super Cup performance for Leipizig, their Dutch midfielder has spent much of the season making a reasonable impression as the best player in the Bundesliga, or close enough. But on Saturday they had to do without him at their direct rivals in Stuttgart, because he received a fifth yellow card of the season against Leverkusen. And this game was all about dealing with the personal hand you were dealt – or not, as the case may be.

The home team also suffered from a major absence, but their response was emphatic. Stuttgart were the gateway to the top four this season and were still in a Champions League spot at kick-off, despite back-to-back defeats that gave the feeling they were experiencing a bit of overdue leveling in their season. Instead, they sent Leipzig home with their tails between their legs after recording a first win since top scorer Serhou Guirassy left for the Africa Cup of Nations, propelled by Deniz Undav’s hat-trick. There have been previous indications that the on-loan Brighton striker’s goals could help them, especially during the period when the Guinean was sidelined with a hamstring injury in the autumn. The fact remained that without Guirassy in the Bundesliga this season, Stuttgart’s record was four played and four lost. This broke that streak in spectacular fashion.

Some may have wondered whether the quiet opening minutes of the match, part of the latest supporters’ protest against private equity investment in the Bundesliga, would have suited the visiting team. But like a driver frustrated by highway roadworks who is suddenly relieved of that obligation, the Cannstatter Kurve roared as their time to hold the fire came to an end and Leipzig was under the pump. The 5-2 scoreline was by no means flattering for Sebastian Hoeness’ team.

The story continues

So while the coach and his Stuttgart side can continue to enjoy a pressure-free, playing-with-house-money second half of the season, far away from their typical battles against the drop, Leipzig face a completely contrasting scenario. There are days when they can look like the best team in the Bundesliga. Here they were a rabble. Champions League qualification is a bare minimum, rather than the glorious daydream that it is for Stuttgart. This third consecutive defeat in the Bundesliga in 2024 dropped Leipzig out of the top four. Marco Rose, born and raised in Leipzig and a coaching graduate from the Red Bull school, has looked like the perfect fit since his arrival in 2022, but the contract extension he signed in July won’t fool him. He needs to turn this around quickly, as previous established players like Jesse Marsch and Domenico Tedesco could tell him. This is a club that runs holistically but burns intensely with ambition.

The raw materials are certainly there for Rose. Benjamin Sesko is showing signs that he can do for Leipzig what Undav can do for his opponents. His header, which brought RB back into the game in the first half, was one that made you believe he was unstoppable, rising effortlessly to drive home David Raum’s delivery. However, the young Slovenian Sesko is only just learning. Undav’s composure is more than just confidence, marking him as someone who could be crucial for Germany at Euro 2024. There is a growing belief that he is the most natural German qualifier in the competition at the moment .

Leipzig have someone equally productive in Loïs Openda, who briefly got them back into this match with his 13th goal of the Bundesliga season, but they need more. Rose told Sky afterwards that the key to results is “all in our heads”. He knows his team desperately needs to clarify these thoughts. A club always in a hurry to progress has never accepted suggestions for transitional seasons or stages of development – ​​and won’t start to do so now.

Dortmund 3-1 Bochum, Union Berlin 1-0 Darmstadt, Leverkusen 0-0 Mönchengladbach, Augsburg 2-3 Bayern, Hoffenheim 1-1 Heidenheim, Stuttgart 5-2 RB Leipzig, Werder Bremen 3-1 Freiburg, Wolfsburg 1-1 Cologne , Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Mainz.

Discussion points

• Bayern Munich’s week has been satisfying but demanding, with Saturday’s difficult 3-2 win in Augsburg closing the gap to the top to two points after Wednesday night’s match, a 1-0 win over Union Berlin. There were positives for Thomas Tuchel and company, including a first Bundesliga goal for increasingly impressive teenage midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic and a first of the season for Alphonso Davies.

Harry Kane’s goal, which ultimately proved to be the winner, was his 23rd in the competition and ended a (gasp!) two-match goalless run. Less welcome was an injury to Kingsley Coman’s knee in the first half, which Tuchel said will keep the France winger “out for a while”. In any case, Bayern have reinforced a real need, confirming the signing of Coman’s compatriot Sacha Boey, Galatasaray’s right back, for an initial fee of thirty million euros. Raphaël Guerreiro, the match winner against Union, was used as an emergency substitute in the position at Augsburg.

• In perhaps the most Bavarian scenario of recent times, the not-quite-firing champions have made up a few more points on leaders Leverkusen, who could only manage a goalless draw at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach despite an almost ridiculous level of dominance. highest number of shots on target in a match for two years and highest number of passes in a match for four years. The subsequent loan signing of Spanish striker Borja Iglesias from Betis should solve some of these conversion issues.

• Bottom side, Union took a crucial win after midweek defeat, with a goal from Benedict Hollerbach beating bottom Darmstadt team, but without great style. Eyes were more focused off the pitch, with coach Nenad Bjelica in president Dirk Zingler’s management box before the match, suspended after his red card for shoving Leroy Sané in the face (twice) in Munich. Bjelica’s joint assistants Danijel Jumic (as head coach) and Marie-Louise Eta (on media duties) took charge of the match and will continue to do so in the remaining two matches of his suspension, as the issue threatens to continue to simmer; multiple reports have suggested that several players have expressed surprise to the board that Bjelica was allowed to keep his job.

• Speaking of not winning style points, Borussia Dortmund moved into the top four in 2024 with a third straight win, but suffered a tough blow beating Bochum in the “Little Derby”. A treble from Niclas Füllkrug, including two penalties, did its job after an avoidable own goal from Nico Schlotterbeck invited the impressive visitors back into the match. The mood in the BVB camp is realistic, more improvement is clearly needed, but the string of wins against “exactly the kind of opponents we had problems with” was nothing to sniff at, as Füllkrug was keen to point out.