RB Leipzig won its second preseason friendly only with great difficulty and a bit of luck. The team, led by new coach Martin Demichelis, beat third-division side FC Ingolstadt 1-0 (1-0) thanks solely to an own goal, following a 2-1 victory in their first preseason match against Northeast Regional League side VSG Altglienicke. Four minutes into the game, Simon Lorenz deflected the ball into his own net following a sharp cross from the left by Brajan Gruda. After that, RB had only two or three clear-cut chances, even though the match lasted 2x60 minutes. “It was a classic preseason match. We trained twice a day this week, plus strength training. I noticed right away that the players weren’t very fresh,” said Demichelis, who saw some solid moments at least from World Cup returnee Assan Ouédraogo, loan returnee Arthur Vermeeren, and new signing Maxime Esteve, who made his debut in the RB jersey. Abdoul Koné will be out for the next few weeks after recently sustaining a capsular injury to his shoulder in training. The third-division team coached by Sabrina Wittmann fared better, creating a series of good chances against the Champions League contender in the closing stages. For Ingolstadt, which had won all of its preseason games so far, this was the penultimate test before the league season kicks off on August 8. Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reservedNew signing Koné is out with a shoulder injury
