Victory for the showdown: Leipzig has Bayern printing in Bielefeld

Leipzig (AP) – Julian Nagelsmann and RB Leipzig are already on the Bielefelder Alm for the longed-for title final against FC Bayern Munich.

During the floodlit excursion on Friday evening (8.30 p.m. / DAZN), victory is the only option if you want to have any kind of chance of the championship at the summit after the international break. “Now it is clear that if we lose again, Bayern are gone,” says coach Julian Nagelsmann. If you don’t win in Bielefeld, “there is no big showdown against Bayern”.

The gap between Leipzig and Bayern in the Bundesliga has grown to four points after the draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. Of course, Nagelsmann would much rather be in a situation where he could overtake Bayern on Friday, so that the league leaders have to deliver against Stuttgart a day later. RB built this scenario itself.

Now a victory in Bielefeld will only be enough to temporarily reduce the gap to one point. Nagelsmann sees this task alone as extremely tricky, especially since his old companion Frank Kramer has brought the Arminia back on track. «With Leverkusen you won against a top team. That’s a good warning for us, ”emphasizes the RB coach. Especially since there is more train in Bielefeld again. “After a change of coach, it’s always normal for everyone to see a new opportunity. That ensures a fresh atmosphere in training, ”said Arminia keeper Stefan Ortega to the“ kicker ”.

The combination of Kramer, Friday evening and floodlights also arouses mediocre memories at Nagelsmann. He experienced his first Bundesliga appearance together with the Bielefeld coach, who was 15 years older than him. In December 2012, Kramer was promoted to interim coach at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and made the then youth coach Nagelsmann his assistant. The first game was on Friday evening at HSV.

And a lot went wrong. As he was used to from his youth, Nagelsmann hit the plane with a large suitcase and all of his equipment. There it was explained to him that you don’t have to do that with the professionals, that everything was taken care of. «And instead of a better youth hostel, we stayed in a really fancy hotel. I had an Asia themed room, ”Nagelsmann remembers and grins.

The adventure then continued in the Volksparkstadion. “Before the game, I put all the cones on carefully. At the last cone someone came and told me I was on the wrong side of the square. Then I ran through the camera during the interview with Lotto King Karl and all the HSV fans whistled on me, ”Nagelsmann reported. It goes without saying that HSV won 2-0 in the end.

Almost eight and a half years later, Nagelsmann and Kramer meet again for a floodlight game. Nagelsmann doesn’t have to put up a hat, and there won’t be any whistling fans either. So everything should be ready for the Leipzig coach to go home as the winner this time. That would be helpful just for the tension in the Bundesliga.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210318-99-871854 / 2

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