Home Opener Under Pressure: How Will RB Leipzig Perform?

Entering the Champions League with renewed momentum. RB Leipzig’s flawless home record in the Bundesliga so far gives the team confidence heading into its first international match of the season at home. But how will the Saxons fare against PSV Eindhoven? What do their three league home wins—with a combined score of 14–0—against bottom-of-the-table Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hamburger SV, and crisis-stricken Eintracht Frankfurt really mean?

After a disastrous Champions League opener against Como (1–4), RB is already under pressure against the team led by former Bundesliga coach Peter Bosz. The Dutch side did, after all, pick up a point in their opener against Shakhtar Donetsk.

Schmidt is looking forward to facing his former club

David Raum offered a glimpse into the mood at RB after Saturday’s 6–0 win over Frankfurt. Before the international break and the 0–2 loss in Leverkusen, he said, “we’d been feeling a bit uneasy. “This time, we showed exactly the right attitude. Playing at home was never a problem—it was more the away games,” said the RB captain ahead of Tuesday’s match (9:00 p.m./DAZN). Now they’ve vented their frustration.

But will that be enough against the Dutch champions? Red Bulls’ new soccer director Roger Schmidt, who himself coached PSV from 2020 to 2022 before his time at Benfica Lisbon, is at the stadium for the first time.

“I’m looking forward to facing my former club. Of course, we need a win,” said Schmidt, though he called for patience. The season is just beginning, he noted, and the team has had many injured players and new signings. “It hasn’t been easy to bring consistency to the team, which is why we haven’t shown what we’re capable of on the road,” said the former RB Salzburg coach, expressing his confidence in Martín Demichelis’s work. 

Bosz knows the Bundesliga inside and out

With Bosz—who has led Eindhoven to a three-peat (2024, 2025, 2026) since taking the helm—an old acquaintance is returning. He once succeeded Thomas Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund (2017–18). There, too, he got off to a flying start, earning 19 out of a possible 21 points and initially sitting atop the table with a five-point lead over FC Bayern Munich. However, following a losing streak of nine competitive matches, Bosz was relieved of his duties in December 2017.

In the winter of 2019, Bosz—who once played as a defensive midfielder in the Bundesliga for Hansa Rostock (1997–1998)—moved to Leverkusen. With the club, he secured fourth place and Champions League qualification. He then led the Rhinelanders to the 2020 DFB Cup final, which they lost 2–4 to FC Bayern. His tenure as coach at Bayer also came to a premature end.

Reunion with RB loan player Geertruida

The 62-year-old has now ushered in a new era with Eindhoven. Last season, PSV clinched the championship earlier than ever before. This season, the landscape has changed. According to Bosz, Ajax Amsterdam and Feyenoord Rotterdam have significantly bolstered their squads. Nevertheless, the coach led his team to a 3-1 victory at Ajax—Leipzig’s loanee Lutsharel Geertruida scored the goal that made it 2-1. 

The Dutch side is currently still without former Bayern Munich pro Paul Wanner, who suffered a foot injury in late September. In his place, 22-year-old Ruben van Bommel—son of former national team player Mark van Bommel—is taking on more and more responsibility. The record signing, who was acquired last year for around 16 million from league rival AZ Alkmaar, recently shone in the Nations League during Jürgen Klopp’s DFB debut, providing the technically adept assist with the outside of his foot in stoppage time for Cody Gakpo’s late 1-1 equalizer.

And then there’s Ivan Perisic—the veteran. The 37-year-old Croatian attacker, who has previously played in the Bundesliga for Dortmund, Wolfsburg, and Bayern Munich, was signed by Bosz in 2024 as a free agent from Hajduk Split—and continues to turn heads.