“Too many sites”.
The reaction of Jesse Marsch, American coach, after the draw conceded Saturday against Freiburg (1-1) in the Bundesliga sums up the difficult season experienced by RB Leipzig.
Vice-champion of Germany, the club sponsored by the brand with the red bull is only in eighth place in the standings after eight days.
He also lost his first two Champions League matches against Manchester City (6-3) and Bruges (2-1).
And here comes the PSG of Messi, Neymar and Mbappé this Tuesday evening at the Parc des Princes.
What to worry about the coach of RB, who already seems to have given up on a possible qualification in the knockout stages of C1. “We try every day to learn and play better and better, but it's not so easy at the moment, we have too many sites, he said on Saturday. We are not efficient enough in the last thirty meters, and we make too many mistakes in our own thirty meters, we do not plug the spaces. It's too easy to score a goal against us. "
Defense is indeed the black spot of the season for Leipzig.
In mid-September, PSG's next opponents conceded ten goals in two games against Bayern Munich (4-1) and Manchester City (6-3).
It must be said that the defensive sector was turned upside down this summer with the departures of Dayot Upamecano from Bayern Munich and that of Ibrahima Konaté to Liverpool.
82 million euros cashed with these two transfers but less talent.
That the recruitment of young Mohamed Simakan (21 years old) in Strasbourg or the Croatian Jsoko Gvardiol (19 years old) at Dinamo Zagreb does not yet compensate.
Nkunku, the great satisfaction
The tactical plan has also evolved. Under the orders of Julian Nagelsmann (2019-2021) who left for Bayern this summer, RB Leipzig played most of the time with a three-way defense. A trademark that took him twice on the Bundesliga podium and in the Champions League semi-finals in 2020, against PSG. With Jesse Marsch, assistant here (2018-2019) and then coach of RB Salzburg (2019-2021), the four-way defense is back and the adaptation is slow to come. "Our problem is consistency," claimed the coach after the defeat against Brugge at home. Either we play very well or we play very badly. "
The results prove it with cards against Bochum (3-0), Hertha (6-0) or Stuttgart (4-0) on one side and disappointments on the other against Cologne (1-1), Mainz. (0-1) or Wolfsburg (0-1). On the offensive side, the integration of Portuguese André Silva also takes time. Author of 28 goals in 32 games with Frankfurt last year, the 25-year-old center-forward has scored only twice with RB Leipzig and is no longer the holder all the time.
Quite the opposite of Christopher Nkunku, THE great satisfaction of the season.
Undisputed holder and at the gates of the France team, the former attacking midfielder of PSG already compiles 9 goals and 4 assists in 11 official matches, including a hat-trick against City.
His return to the Parc des Princes will be one of the dangers for Mauricio Pochettino's squad.
A player who has "no weakness" according to his coach.
PSG, often punished by its elders, is warned.