Leipzig rise no surprise to Rodgers
‘We have belief we can match these teams’
THE r emarkable rise of RasenBallsport Leipzig from the fifth tier of German football to the prominent position they now occupy has, even with the notinconsiderable financial backing of their owners Red Bull, taken many in the European game aback in recent seasons.
Brendan Rodgers, however, is not one of them. He received an early indication of just how ambitious the unfashionable club from the former East Germany were during his time in charge of Liverpool when he had a lengthy discussion with their legendary manager Ralf Rangnick.
The vision that Rangnick – the former VfB Stuttgart, Hannover 96 and Schalke 04 head coach who had helped 1899 Hoffenheim complete their own incredible journey from obscurity to the top flight in his homeland – had shone through.
So the subsequent success of the Saxony outfit, who were second in the Bundesliga going into the weekend and are competing in the Europa League group stages for the second season running and who Celtic will take on in the Red Bull Arena on Thursday evening, has come as little surprise to Rodgers.
“I’ve never met Ralf, but I spoke to him on the phone when I was at Liverpool when they were in the second division in Germany and looking to come through,” he said.
“He told me all about the project they were working on.
“He invited me out there but, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that at that time. He’s a good guy and someone who has devoted his life to football.
“Ralf’s done a great job and has made them very competitive. He has been there for a long time, so the ethos of how they work was all set up by him. He clearly has a love of the club and how he wants them to develop. And he still has the energy to manage and be on the training field every day.”
Rival supporters opposed to the corporate ownership model of RB Leipzig have protested at, and even boycotted, their games since they joined the Bundesliga. And Leipzig have been branded “the most hated club in Germany”.
Rodgers, though, believes the backing of the energy drinks company is indicative of the changing face of professional football.
“It’s time, isn’t it?” he said. “They’re developing players. They’ve invested into the infrastructure. I don’t think there is any doubt both Red Bull teams [their sister club Salzburg are also in their Europa League section] see themselves as Champions League clubs; the structure of the club, everything about them, is built around being in there. “It will be a tough examination.” Leipzig, who recovered from an opening 3-2 loss to Salzburg at home with a 3-1 win over Rosenborg away, are unlikely to catch out Rodgers with their approach to the Group B match. “The Leipzig style has evolved,” he said. “Coming through, Leipzig were a team very happy not to have the ball and play on the counter, flooding forward.
“They played in a 4-4-2 system with two wingers right in and were very strong and fast on the counter-attack. They moved away from that for a little while but, looking at some of their recent games, they’re trying to get back to that type of football.”
It will be difficult for Celtic to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Salzburg in Austria at the start of the month with a win or even a draw.
If their captain and first-choice central midfielder Scott Brown, who limped off in the 4-2 win over Hibernian at Parkhead yesterday, is missing it will be especially hard. His absence was certainly keenly felt against Salzburg at the start of the month.
But Rodgers is confident McGregor, who slotted into his skipper’s role again yesterday and acquitted himself well, will be able to deputise there if Brown fails to recover.
“Collectively they are a good side,” he said. “But we have got to go and show our quality. Whatever the result is, it is about the performance as well. We will want to go there and play better than we have played. We want to go and show more of what our true face is.
“Browny is certainly a great reference for the team in midfield where he can take the ball. But it is the responsibility of everyone in the side. The players know when we have the ball we need to have enough players looking to receive it, moving off it.”
The potential absence of Leigh Griffiths, who is doubtful due to the calf problem and illness that kept him out of the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Hibernian at Parkhead yesterday, is not a concern to Rodgers. He is confident Odsonne Edouard, who netted in the second minute against Salzburg and helped himself to a brace yesterday, is more than capable of leading the line by himself in Germany despite his tender years.
“We are confident we can get goals,” he said. “He [Edouard] is not a target man. The ball can go up to him and he can hold it up and lots of times it will stay. But he’s different to, say, Moussa [Dembele].
“He has different physicality, is a different type. He’s 6ft 2in, he’s strong and he’s quick. I’d like to think he’ll be a good reference.” RB LEIPZIG may be relative newcomers to both the Bundesliga and Europa League, but Callum McGregor believes he has a fair idea of what to expect when Celtic take to the field in the Red Bull Arena on Thursday evening.
McGregor has, despite being just 25, built up extensive experience of continental football in general and the German game in particular during the past five seasons.
Not all of it has been positive – the midfielder missed a gilt-edged scoring chance late on in a 2-2 draw with Borussia Moenchengladbach away in a Champions League group game two years ago.
However, the man who netted against Bayern Munich in Europe’s premier club competition on a memorable evening in Glasgow last season feels those outings will be invaluable preparation for what promises to be a tough encounter.
“The German teams seem to have the same structure in terms of buildup play,” he said. “Everything is quick, one and two touch.
We have to show our quality. We want to show more of what our true face is
“They build through the pitch fairly quickly and then up top they have players who are slightly different, soloists who can take the ball, go on a dribble and hit a shot.
“They try to get the ball to those guys as quickly and efficiently as they can. That’s what I’ve found.”
McGregor added: “I think we’re better prepared for that now. The more European games you play, the more you get a feel for how the foreign game is played.
“It goes up a level in terms of the pace and tempo of the passing. We need to defend well against that then when we get the ball we’ve got to be quicker in our play.
“We have managed to nick goals away from home so that’s something we will try to do. It’s about us being organised, knowing our jobs. We got a draw in Moenchengladbach, so we have to take as much confidence from results like that.
“When you play in these games and then something like that happens it proves to the player and the squad that you belong at that level.
“That’s a big thing for Scottish teams, that we have that belief … that we can match these teams.”
McGregor was heavily criticised by his own supporters after his miss against Moenchengladbach, but the opportunities he subsequently converted in big games against the likes of Bayern, Rangers and Zenit Saint Petersburg underline that he has improved and matured as a player.
“Since then my game has come on so much in terms of everything, tactically, finishing, getting forward. My confidence levels have gone high too. You are going to make mistakes in your career. It’s about being strong enough mentally to bounce back and try to prove people wrong.”
So, does McGregor believe Celtic can recover from the 3-1 defeat they suffered at the hands of Salzburg in Austria at the start of the month?
“If we were to go and get a result against a team of Leipzig’s stature, with the money they have spent, it would probably raise some eyebrows,” he said. “But we are capable.”