Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Wednesday that he believes the new format of the Champions League will level the playing field in their quarter-final with experienced European competitors Atletico Madrid.
Leipzig, founded in 2009, are in the Champions
League’s knock-out stages for the first time in the club’s brief history and
face Atletico on Thursday.
In contrast, the La Liga side reached
the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals, losing both times to Real Madrid,
and won the Europa League in 2012 and 2018 under head coach Diego Simeone.
However, the Champions League’s new
format – one-off knock-out games instead of two-leg ties – sees both teams step
into the unknown.
“We know that they have a lot of
experience over two legs, but anything can happen in just one game,” Nagelsmann
said Wednesday.
“We will all be thrown into cold
water, because of this situation, so experience isn’t as big a factor as it
might have been.”
Nagelsmann is without his main
goalscorer Timo Werner, who scored 34 times last season including four in the
Champions League before joining Chelsea in June.
In his absence, Leipzig’s forward line
is likely to be led by Denmark’s Yussuf Poulsen and Czech Republic striker
Patrik Schick, who is carrying a knock, but Nagelsmann was keeping his cards
close to his chest.
“We don’t have Werner and I won’t say
who will start,” said Nagelsmann.
“But we have players who didn’t play
when Werner was here who will now get their chance.”
‘Physical’
Atletico
Leipzig were still in Germany’s third
tier as recently as 2013-14 and this is arguably the biggest game in the
history of the fledgling club.
“If you look at our side, we have a
few players who have played more than four or five years at this club,” said
Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
“It’s another chance to show our
strength in Europe. We have a lot of confidence and we’ll try to show our
qualify for the semis.”
Nagelsmann revealed he is wary of the “physical”
presence of Madrid’s centre-backs Jose Gimenez and Stefan Savic.
“We obviously want to look get down
the sides and move the ball out wide to find gaps in their backline”.
Leipzig could potentially face
Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich, who play Barcelona on Friday, in the Champions
League final, but Nagelsmann refused to think too far ahead.
“Of course an all-German final would
be brilliant for Germany, but we aren’t thinking further ahead than tomorrow.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone,
meanwhile told his side not to dwell on their last-16 victory over Liverpool in
March which knocked out the defending champions.
“A lot of months have passed, and all
the excitement and turmoil that arose after the win over Liverpool has died
down a bit because of the 100-plus days we’ve been in quarantine,” said the
Argentine on Wednesday.
“Then with La Liga it all seems like
far away now. It will remain part of the history of Atletico Madrid. But now, a
new journey begins tomorrow (Thursday).”
