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Christopher Nkunku had several reasons to celebrate in Freiburg
Photo: Tom Weller / dpa
When the former RB sports director Ralf Rangnick brought the player Kevin Kampl from Leverkusen to Leipzig in 2017, he justified this with his "anarchic way of playing football".
With the 3-0 Leipzig in Freiburg and the short-term lead in the table, the anarcho of yore showed what made him and his team so strong recently.
The Slovenian international paired his free spirit with aggressiveness and effectiveness.
And so stood out from a strong Leipzig team.
"He played a great game," praised coach Julian Nagelsmann after the game.
With its no-frills appearance, Kampl is symbolic of the Leipzig people's maturation process.
Even without the lack of regulars Marcel Halstenberg, Marcel Sabitzer, Angeliño and Willi Orban, RB dominated the recently so successful Freiburg.
The way in which RB achieved the win underpins the title ambitions.
"When they appear like that, Leipzig is a serious competitor for Bayern Munich," said SC coach Christian Streich afterwards.
Against Freiburg, Kampl was the manager and point of order in the guests' game.
With his biting pressing he secured the Leipzig offensive runs against the Freiburgers lurking on the counterattack.
With his noisy instructions, he rearranged the midfield.
Whenever the sports club hoped to breathe through an advance, Kampl thwarted their plans and stopped the attacks - sometimes with a tactical foul, sometimes with a well-measured, robust tackle.
It was an impressive performance from a player who has made just as much progress in recent years.
The defensive man, who was born in Solingen, has matured into a top Bundesliga player since his three years abroad at RB Salzburg - despite numerous injuries and forced breaks.
Last season, the oldest player in Leipzig, aged 30, was out for a long time with an ankle injury.
Kampl came under suspicion of the eternal talent, which does not live up to its possibilities.
Kampl's development goes hand in hand with that of his club: "In the past we might have scored a goal too early and got behind," said Nagelsmann after the encounter.
But against the sports club, the physically clearly superior Leipzigers could not be disturbed.
They waited for the Freiburg to make mistakes.
And the Breisgauer made mistakes in the Black Forest Stadium.
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Kevin Kampl as the organizing force in midfield
Photo: Tom Weller / dpa
When SC goalkeeper Florian Müller opened the game flat through the middle towards Baptista Santamaria in the 41st minute, Kampl struck for the first time.
He snuck up in the back of the Freiburg midfielder and forced him to lose the ball.
The ball jumped to Yussuf Poulsen, who only had to cross over to Christopher Nkunku.
The French hit the empty goal.
With which the second key player of the success was found.
In Nkunku, Kampl had a congenial partner.
The French junior international came to RB in 2019 as a great promise, but too often fell short of expectations - also tactically.
Quite different on Saturday: If the 23-year-old attacker came to the play equipment in the last third, he always caused danger.
Fast and agile, secure on the ball and always with a direct path or vertical pass to the goal: Nkunku scored to 1-0, prepared the 2-0 after another ball conquest by Kampl and significantly influenced the situation that led to the 3-0 .
Kampl and Nkunku were representative of an impressive team performance at the feared opponent: RB had only won one of their five Bundesliga guest games at the Black Forest Stadium.
But in their sixth Bundesliga win in a row, they showed how strong they are currently.
Patient, callous, athletically superior and clearly organized - Leipzig played almost 200 passes more than the opponent, did not allow any compelling chances to score and in turn transformed all three top-class opportunities.
On Wednesday, RB will be in the already decided round of 16 in the Champions League against Liverpool, then Eintracht Frankfurt and Arminia Bielefeld will wait in the Bundesliga before the summit with Bayern Munich on April 3 in Leipzig.
After the 24th matchday, the challenger is two points behind the title holder.
Impressive performances like the one in Freiburg are the clear application letter for the fact that the champion is not FC Bayern for the ninth time in a row on May 22 at 5:20 pm, but for the first time RB Leipzig.
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