Marsch in the mire as Brugge stun Leipzig

American coach Jesse Marsch’s rocky start at RB Leipzig continued on Tuesday as his side suffered a major blow to their Champions League campaign with a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Club Brugge.

Underdogs Brugge fought back from a goal down to spring a surprise in Saxony and  leave Leipzig bottom of a tough Group A which also includes heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. 

“We’re in a difficult situation in the group now, but we have to stay positive. We have two games against Paris Saint-Germain, and we have to pick up points there,”  goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi told broadcaster DAZN.

Leipzig’s second defeat in two European games heaps further pressure on Marsch, who has now lost five of nine games in all competitions since taking the reins at the beginning of the season.

“It’s interesting: we are either playing really well or really badly at the moment,” said Marsch, whose team had appeared to bounce back to form with a 6-0 win over Hertha Berlin last weekend. 

“We need to find more consistency.”

Buoyed by their weekend win, Leipzig got off to a perfect start as Lukas Klostermann and Emil Forsberg combined to set up Christopher Nkunku, who squeezed the ball into the bottom corner under goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

Yet the hosts were unable to settle as Charles De Ketelaere and Hans Vanaken led a spirited fightback from the Belgian side.

The Brugge front two forced several saves from Leipzig keeper Gulacsi before combining for the equaliser on 23 minutes — De Ketelaere wriggling free on the left and squaring to Vanaken for a tap-in.

Five minutes before the break, Vanaken set up Mats Rits to give the visitors a deserved lead, which they held comfortably for much of the second half. 

The game appeared to be up when Noa Noell Lang put the ball in the net on 71 minutes, but the goal was ruled out for offside. 

Yet the visitors held on to claim their first ever win on German soil and pull four points clear of Leipzig in Group A.