RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann says he is relishing facing former mentor and Paris Saint Germain coach Thomas Tuchel in the Champions League semi-finals following his side’s stunning win over Atletico Madrid.
Leipzig, who were only founded in 2009, booked a semi-final berth at their first attempt in the knock-out stages when US midfielder Tyler Adams hit an 88th-minute winner.
It sealed the
Germans’ win after a Joao Felix penalty for Atletico had cancelled out Dani
Olmo’s header for Leipzig early in the second half.
Leipzig now face
PSG next Tuesday, also in Lisbon, for a place in the August 23 final.
It was PSG’s German
coach Tuchel, 46, who gave Nagelsmann his first break at Augsburg 12 years ago
as a scout which saw him then become a coach.
“They are a top
team with a top trainer,” said the 33-year-old Nagelsmann, whose playing career
was ended in 2008 by a knee injury.
“I have often
played (as a coach) against him (Tuchel) but rarely won.
“That should change
now. I would also be satisfied with a bad game if we win,” Nagelsmann added.
When coach of his
former club Hoffenheim, Nagelsmann lost twice and drew against Tuchel, who was
then in charge of Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga between 2016 and 2017.
Nagelsmann was full
of praise for PSG, who came back against Atalanta on Wednesday to win after
scoring two late goals.
“They are a team
full of stars,” Nagelsmann added, referring to Neymar and fellow PSG forward
Kylian Mbappe.
“You could see
yesterday at the end what quality they have.
“Angel di Maria is
coming back, Mbappe will be fit enough to play from the beginning.
“It’s clear that we
need another top performance to get into the final.”
Mental strength
Nagelsmann’s
Leipzig held their nerve after Felix equalised before Adams came off the bench
to seal the winner after superb work in the build-up by left-back Angelino and
midfielder Marcel Sabitzer.
“I was getting
ready for extra-time and thinking about who I would bring on, so I am happy
that I didn’t have to do that,” added Nagelsmann.
“I couldn’t believe
we scored that beautiful goal.
“We had trained for
the situation when we went 1-0 up, but things didn’t work out exactly.
“The boys sorted
things out for themselves and showed how mentally strong they are, so I am
really proud of them.”
This is the first
time Leipzig have made the knock-out stages of the Champions League and having
already beaten Tottenham in the last 16, they want to make more are history.
Their captain
Yussuf Poulsen, 26, who joined in 2013-14 when Leipzig were in Germany’s third
division, acknowledged the magnitude of the achievement for the eastern Germany
club backed by energy drinks firm Red Bull.
“This is a story
that you couldn’t have written better,” said the Denmark striker.
“It is a great day,
a great moment, we have to enjoy it, then have a better game in the semi-finals
in five days.”
Poulsen said
Nagelsmann’s meticulous preparations had been a key.
“We were just well
prepared, everyone knew what to do,” he said.
“But we also had
some players on the pitch who were not playing Champions League for the first
time,” he added after Leipzig bowed out in the group stages in 2017-18.
“If we’d played a
game like that two years ago, it might have turned out differently.”
