Leipzig enter blockbuster under major pressure to come good

ASSISTANT coach to Felix Magath at Hertha Berlin, former Celtic and Dundee midfielder Mark Fotheringham is one of only two Scots earning a living in the Bundesliga. The other is Ross Dunbar, digital media manager at Hertha’s city rivals Union Berlin. ‘Hertha are in a relegation battle at the moment,’ Dunbar tells Sportsmail. ‘But I said to Mark to meet up for a beer at some point. Once things clear up, I’m sure we will eventually get the chance.’ When the drinks are ordered, the conversation will inevitably turn to Rangers in Europe. The Ibrox side shocked German football by storming past Europa League favourites Borussia Dortmund over two legs. Despite the loss of a late goal in the Red Bull Arena last week, the Scottish champions have a real chance of reaching their first European final in 14 years in Glasgow tomorrow night. The reward for overcoming RB Leipzig would be a May 18 trip to Seville, where Eintracht Frankfurt look the most likely opponents after winning their own first leg 2-1 against West Ham in London. Should Rangers add Leipzig’s scalp to Dortmund’s, another Bundesliga opponent would hold few fears for a team prematurely dismissed as ‘third rate’ by German legend Lothar Matthaus. ‘I thought that was a bit dramatic,’ says Dunbar. ‘Generally, I find levels of respect for Scottish football here to be quite high. For Rangers and Celtic, it’s a different level of respect, but I do generally find Germans to be very respectful of British football culture in general.’ Moving to Germany at the age of 20, Dunbar took a job working for public service broadcasters Deutsche Welle. He now works behind the scenes at Union in a role which sees him liaise with UEFA as well as helping the media, commercial and ticketing departments of a club shaking itself free of its East German past. ‘When one of the teams from Germany play a game in Scotland, they are generally excited,’ he says. ‘You speak to journalists or fans and you tend to find that, if they get a chance to go to Celtic Park or Ibrox or Hampden, it’s something they enjoy. ‘I’ve spoken to a number of journalists who were at Ibrox for the Borussia Dortmund game and they all absolutely loved it. ‘It’s in line with how they see football and there is a cultural overlap.’ RB Leipzig’s Spanish international playmaker Dani Olmo is certainly relishing the prospect of an Ibrox full house. ‘In Glasgow, football is very important,’ says the 23-year-old. ‘We know about their history, so it won’t be easy. ‘It will be great for the neutrals. The fans from both sides will be nervous. It will be deserving of a Europa League semi-final. ‘As footballers, we live for these kind of matches. If we get the result we want, that’s when you can’t help but say: “Football is so beautiful”.’ Enthusiasm for a trip to Glasgow dimmed when a Leipzig team sitting fifth in the Bundesliga slipped to a 3-1 defeat against ten-man Borussia Monchengladbach. Out of the automatic places for the Champions League, the best chance of qualification for next season’s group stage may now hang on winning the Europa League outright. Boss Domenico Tedesco has threatened to ring the changes before Ibrox, insisting a heavy, demanding fixture schedule was no excuse for Monday’s poor performance. ‘So we now need to find brand new ideas for Glasgow and we also need new personnel, too,’ said Tedesco (below). ‘Tiredness was no reason for this defeat, even if our intensity was completely lacking in the first half. ‘We were so far out of it in the first half that I might as well have taken the tactics board and thrown it in the bin. The first half was not good enough.’ It was Leipzig’s second Bundesliga defeat in a row. Union Berlin inflicted the first when they took revenge for a 2-1 defeat in the German Cup semi-finals. Dunbar finds it hard to predict which RB Leipzig will turn up in Glasgow. ‘They have a lot of pressure to end this season with a trophy. It’s not so much a case

of “Could they win a trophy”? I think now it’s a case of they want to win a trophy,’ he says. ‘They want the validation of being one of the top teams in Germany. They have two chances of that now. The German Cup would bring them credit in the bank in Germany, but for RB Leipzig to win a European trophy would be a massive achievement. ‘It would give them so much credibility plus automatic qualification for the Champions League.’ For Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the second leg brings a tactical challenge. Former Leeds boss Uwe Rosler, who managed Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga last season and started his career at Lokomotiv Leipzig in the old East Germany, believes Red Bull pose a bigger danger when they are playing away from home. ‘Rangers at Ibrox, with 50,000 fans roaring them on, will have to attack and that’s good for Leipzig,’ said Rosler, ‘because, for me, they are one of the best teams in Germany for counter-attacks. ‘How the game will develop in Glasgow should suit the RB team very well because they have players who are made for it, as you saw in Atalanta when they won 2-0.’ Glaswegian Dunbar agrees with Rosler’s assessment. He says: ‘I watched the game against Atalanta. Leipzig had the chance in the first half where Konrad Laimer ran 30 yards up the pitch to win them a free-kick and create the chance for the goal, which knocked the stuffing out of Atalanta. ‘I think there is a concern that, if Rangers come out the traps really quickly in the opening minutes, Leipzig could pick them off on the break. And pretty much knock the stuffing out of Rangers as well. ‘I think Rangers have punched at a superb level in Europe. ‘The first goal will be really important in terms of the momentum of the game.’