Bundesliga
5 reasons Leipzig will beat PSG
RB Leipzig host Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday with no margin left for error, but even with the prospect of facing Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, Jesse Marsch's troops can be encouraged that their first European win of the season is about to arrive.
>> Click here for the Leipzig-PSG LIVE blog!
1) Nkunku in the form of his life
PSG youth academy graduates have a tendency to come back and haunt their former club - just ask Bayern Munich's Kingsley Coman - and Christopher Nkunku will have another chance to do so almost a year to the day since he last starred in a win over PSG. The 23-year-old grew up on the outskirts of Paris and joined PSG in 2010, but a lack of playing opportunities prompted his move to Germany in summer 2019. The Frenchman hit the ground running with five goals and 13 assists in his first Bundesliga season, and he has now emerged as their key man in attack.
"Christo is so important for us," Marsch said of a man who already has nine goals and three assists this term. "This young man has no weaknesses!”
Nkunku already has previous with PSG in the Champions League group stage. He scored against his former employers in November 2020, cancelling out Angel Di Maria's early opener and paving the way for a 2-1 Leipzig victory. He has also strapped on his shooting boots in the current campaign, hitting a sensational hat-trick in the spectacular loss to Manchester City and finding the target again at home to Club Brugge.
"It's like a ritual: we play PSG every year and it's always a special game for me," Nkunku told Sport Bild.
Scoring has also become something of a ritual for Nkunku, who will be desperate to add to his tally of four Champions League goals this season, having already got a sensational hat-trick in the spectacular loss to Manchester City and finding the target again at home to Club Brugge.
He was a livewire in the reverse fixture too, causing mayhem in the PSG box when he was just getting warmed up for Matchday 4.
2) They could have won in France
At the midway point of the second half, Leipzig were on course to pick up their first win in Group A. Kylian Mbappe had struck early on for PSG, but goals in either half from Andre Silva and Nordi Mukiele - both set up by Angelino - put the visitors in the box seat. Argentine superstar Lionel Messi got the French champions out of a tricky spot, however, scoring on 67 minutes and from a 74th-minute penalty to give the home side victory.
“The Parisians struggled for a big part of the match,” French sports daily L’Equipe reported afterwards, with PSG captain Marquinhos admitting they had “suffered” before escaping with a win.
Watch: Leipzig too strong for Fürth on Matchday 9
Leipzig had an impressive 17 attempts at goal - three more than the home team - and left the Parc des Princes feeling hard done by.
“We played well and were in control for the majority of the game,” Marsch said, while Konrad Laimer lamented that “football sometimes isn’t fair” after suggesting that Leipzig had been the better side.
“We played well,” Mukiele said afterwards. “I’m proud of what we did. We didn’t deserve to lose… it’s a shame, but there are lots of positives.”
3) They have done it before
One of Leipzig’s most impressive victories last season was a home success against the team that edged them in the 2019/20 Champions League semi-final. PSG got in front on six minutes through Angel Di Maria, but that was the high point of their trip to the east of Germany for a group-stage match played on 4 November 2020.
Nkunku drew Leipzig level against his former team with a well-placed shot from the edge of the area before half-time, and then Emil Forsberg scored from the spot after Presnel Kimpembe handled a cross from Angelino.
The Parisians lost their cool late in the game as Leipzig ran out 2-1 winners, with Idrissa Gueye sent off for a second bookable offence and Kimpembe getting a straight red card in injury-time. Both sides would qualify for the knockout stage with four wins from six.
It was one of six defeats PSG have suffered on German soil, compared with just four wins and one draw.
In addition to those defeats in official fixtures, Paris were beaten 4-2 on their first visit to the Red Bull Arena in a pre-season friendly back in 2014, when Leipzig had just been promoted to Bundesliga 2. Poulsen was among the goals on that night, and a repeat seven years on would be more than welcome.
4) Olmo is available again
One of the stars for Leipzig last season was Spanish attacker Dani Olmo. The 23-year-old’s second year in Germany was hugely productive, and a major reason why his side finished as runners-up to Bayern in the Bundesliga and to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Cup.
The former Dinamo Zagreb player ended the 2020/21 campaign with five goals and nine assists in the league alone, and he followed up by helping Spain to both the UEFA Euro 2020 semi-finals and the Olympic final.
Olmo picked up a thigh injury shortly after his return to Leipzig, but the skilful attacker is now back in training and ready to work his magic again.
He was back in the Leipzig squad to face Frankfurt at the weekend, giving him the opportunity to feel the turf again ahead of a much-awaited return to action on the biggest stage of them all.
5) Angelino's assistance
When Angelino is missing, it leaves a considerable void in the Leipzig team. With the Spanish wing back labouring with a thigh injury for much of the season, coach Jesse Marsch adapted his team to play a four-man defence and goals were much harder to come by.
The three games he has started in the Bundesliga since recovering from injury at the end of September have heralded 13 goals. Compare that to the six they scored in the first five games of the campaign and his presence on the field certainly appears to give the whole team a lift.
Watch: How Angelino developed into a world-class wing-back under Julian Nagelsmann
Still just 24 years of age, the former Manchester City man is capable of making the difference when he is fit and firing. He was given a warm welcome by the City of Manchester Stadium when he returned to face his old club in September, although a late dismissal somewhat marred his comeback, despite an energetic performance down the Leipzig left. It meant he was suspended for the 2-1 loss to Brugge, with Marsch admitting to Kicker magazine that the Spaniard's absence was "a factor" in their defeat.
The pocket-sized, turbo-charged Spaniard is clearly happiest when bombing forward to help out the likes of Nkunku, Forsberg and Poulsen, and he could hardly have looked any happier than he did in the French capital, when he supplied goals for Andre Silva and Mukiele.
"My style is to play forward and create chances," he explained last season, on his way to notching eight goals and 11 assists in all competitions. "It's something I help the team with: creating more chances. I think I help more offensively than defensively. Attacking is my strength."