On the evening of the clear defeat against PSG (3-0), in the semi-finals of the last Final 8 of the Champions League in Lisbon, Julian Nagelsmann, the coach of RB Leipzig, said he was "proud to have arrived until in the semi-finals ”.
Before adding: “It was not necessarily expected that Leipzig is part of four biggest clubs in Europe.
"
A few weeks later, on the eve of the resumption of the Bundesliga, the former disciple of Thomas Tuchel summed up his objectives for the months to come: “We want to finish in the top 4
(Editor's note: in the German championship)
and play a important role in the Champions League!
Without having the objective of once again playing the semi-finals.
"
At the time of finding PSG, even diminished, on the occasion of the third day of the Champions League this Wednesday evening, Leipzig could have presented itself with a high morale, with four successes and a draw in the league.
Only, its last two games have come to put a big brake on the enthusiasm of the German formation and slightly cut the wings of the club founded by Red Bull.
"Stabilizing at the highest level will take a little time"
First there was the defeat (5-0), the heaviest in its history, which began in 2009, on Manchester United's lawn in the Champions League.
Then, Saturday, in the league, a second consecutive setback in Mönchengladbach (1-0) which made him lose the lead in the standings.
"Success is not a door, it is a staircase that must constantly be climbed and against Manchester, we went down a few steps," summarized Julian Nagelsmann after the setback in England.
The arrival of PSG is therefore an opportunity to bring up a large number of them.
“Stabilizing at the highest level will take a little time,” admits sporting director Markus Krösche of a club which only reached the top flight in 2016. One thing is certain, the semi-final of Lisbon did not turn their heads on those responsible.
As expected, home scorer Timo Werner left for Chelsea for € 53million and was not replaced.
“We have always said that we wanted to collectively compensate for the loss of Timo Werner, by developing different qualities in the team, and that's what we did,” explains Markus Krösche.
It is not Christopher Nkunku, the former Parisian, who will complain.