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After a "billiards goal": Leipzig loses—but is satisfied

After a "billiards goal": Leipzig loses—but is satisfied
Martin Demichelis was satisfied with the outcome. / Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
Martín Demichelis's return to his old stomping grounds ends in a loss. Still, the new RB coach is satisfied. A new signing shares what he likes after his Leipzig debut.

New coach Martín Demichelis returned to Leipzig “satisfied nonetheless” after another friendly loss. “It was a good test,” the Argentine summed up. “After conceding the goal, we lost our rhythm a bit. But I’m very satisfied because we also had some good stretches. Many of our principles were on display.”

Gruda scores and makes a case for himself

A week before the start of competitive play—with what appears at first glance to be an easy cup match against Regionalliga side Eintracht Trier—it was already quite clear during the 1-3 (0-1) loss to Munich, it was already quite clear where the team is headed under the long-time Bayern pro. Even without Yan Diomande, who has moved to Real Madrid, the plan is to attack down the wings. U21 national team player Brajan Gruda, who is also a candidate for a trial under new national team coach Jürgen Klopp, made a name for himself as a goal scorer.

“It was a good test for us; of course, not everything went perfectly,” said Gruda. The 22-year-old also revealed some of the new coach’s expectations. “He wants us to give 100 percent both on defense and on offense, and to press aggressively. We had some good stretches today.”

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“Then we concede a billiards-style goal”

The fact that it still didn’t amount to more than some kind words was, on the one hand, due to Munich’s quality. On the other hand, the goals conceded—by Luis Díaz, Nathaniel Brown, and Jamal Musiala—were, in some cases, a bit too easy.

“We started off well, then conceded a fluke goal,” said Demichelis, who was particularly pleased with the team’s strong spell after halftime. “We started the second half well and had our chances. Of course, we want to create more chances and play better going forward.” Substitute Johan Bakayoko from Belgium brought a lot of energy to the game.

Much to Demichelis’ delight, Gladbach’s new signing Rocco Reitz was also able to make his debut for the Saxons. “I was very happy to be back on the field and doing what I love,” the 24-year-old told MagentaTV.

Reitz: It’s always good to compete against the best

According to the club, Reitz—who was signed for a transfer fee of around 20 million euros—has been making up for the training he missed due to illness “step by step.” “That half-hour was quite intense; there was a lot of back-and-forth action,” Reitz said. “It’s always good to compete against the best.”

Demichelis agreed, having won three of five preseason matches. “It’s always tough to apply good pressure against Bayern, especially in this stadium,” the 45-year-old said after the match. As a player, the Argentine won the German double four times with FC Bayern and worked as a coach at the FC Bayern Campus from 2019 to 2022. “I lived there for years, as a player and as a coach. Coming back to the Allianz Arena is special.”

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