RB Leipzig’s recent revival under new coach Domenico Tedesco will face the ultimate test in the Bundesliga this weekend as they travel to league leaders Bayern Munich, coached by their former manager Julian Nagelsmann.
Life after Nagelsmann departed for Bayern in the close season was tough for Leipzig.
After finishing in the top three in each of the previous three campaigns, they struggled to get going this time around, before Tedesco came in to steady the ship.
Leipzig have lost just once since the Italian took charge in early December, winning each of the last three league games to close in on the Champions League qualification places once more.
However, Nagelsmann will be out to dent that run against the team he helped build.
The current Bayern boss revealed in an interview this week that he is so obsessed with the game, he has developed strange sleeping habits.
“Sometimes when I’m sleeping after a game I call out the names of my players,” he told Bayern’s ’51’ magazine.
“My wife once told me that. Sometimes it wakes her up in the night.”
Nagelsmann’s new side have not given him too many reasons to be kept awake at night as they close in on a record-extending 10th consecutive Bundesliga title this term.
They have scored four times in each of their last two Bundesliga games, winning 4-0 at Cologne and 4-1 at Hertha Berlin, to preserve their six-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund at the top of the standings.
The other blockbuster clash of the weekend sees a Borussia Dortmund side, who have found their scoring touch in recent weeks, host third-placed Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.
German media reports say free-scoring striker Erling Haaland will miss the match through injury, which would give Leverkusen increased hope of gaining victory in the Westfalenstadion to close the gap to Dortmund to five points.
The Norwegian has scored 80 goals in 79 competitive appearances for Dortmund, including 16 in 14 Bundesliga games this term. That gives him the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the division, with one goal plundered every 72 minutes.
A 5-1 win over Augsburg in their last match suggests Leverkusen have hit top gear, with Moussa Diaby scoring his first Bundesliga hat-trick, as Bayer set a new club record of 49 goals after the first 20 games of a league season.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga this weekend, fourth-placed Union Berlin aim to continue to defy the odds at Augsburg, while struggling VfL Wolfsburg look to end a run of 11 games in all competitions without a win then they host bottom side Greuther Fuerth.
(Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Toby Davis)
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