Marcel Schäfer on the Red Bulls' successful start to the season

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RB Leipzig

·5 October 2025

Marcel Schäfer on the Red Bulls' successful start to the season

With 13 points from the first six games, RB Leipzig sit third in the Bundesliga table and are currently on a five-game unbeaten run. It's therefore been a successful start to the 2025/26 season. After the 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund, managing director for sport Marcel Schäfer discussed the first few months of the new campaign.

Marcel Schäfer on the “mature performance” in Dortmund:

“Overall, it was a really strong display – exactly the kind of performance we’re aiming for. Both in terms of our attacking play and our collective work in defence, we didn’t let Dortmund find their rhythm. In the second half, I felt we were on top for long spells, apart from the last five minutes, which we could have managed better. Still, we’ll take the point and build on it.”

...the Red Bulls' start to the season:

“We’ve now reached the first break with 13 points, so things are looking good overall. Not everything’s clicking yet, but we’re very happy with where we are. It’s been an intense summer with lots of changes, but we’ve already managed to establish some key things quite quickly. You get the sense there’s a team out there fighting for each other with a clear plan – and that was exactly what we wanted to achieve from our analysis. But we have to stay humble and recognise there’s still plenty we can improve.”

... Verbesserungspotentiale:

„In Dortmund hätten wir gerade in der zweiten Halbzeit noch mehr Output rausbekommen müssen. Wir hatten viele Eins-gegen-Eins-Situationen oder sind bis ins letzte Drittel oder sogar in die Box durchgekommen. Aber dann war der Pass unsauber oder die Positionierung vielleicht nicht gut.Es gibt einfach noch ein paar Dinge, die wir besprochen haben und die eigentlich in die Abläufe gehören. Das ist etwas, woran wir sicherlich noch arbeiten müssen. Und defensiv gibt es sowieso immer noch Themen.“

...Ole Werner's work:

"We're really happy. In all our discussions, we quickly realised how much common ground we share – in terms of football, our working relationship, and how to lead a team and a club.It’s great to see that the results are following too, because that builds confidence and strengthens our work together. Ole and his coaching staff have done an outstanding job.You can clearly see the patterns in our defensive work, but also in attack – that’s entirely down to him. We’re very happy to have him here. We have ambitious goals, and we’re working hard towards them.”

...he increased threat from set pieces under assistant coach Jan Zimmermann:

“It’s great to see the things we work on paying off and us being able to capitalise on them. So yes – credit where it’s due. It’s clicked quite quickly, and we’re now creating real danger from set pieces, which was something we didn’t do often enough last year.”

...Nicolas Seiwald and Christoph Baumgartner:

“With their performances, they’re essentially confirming what we believed in from the start, and that’s great to see. I think they need to take on leadership and responsibility and deliver consistently over the whole season. I’m just really pleased for both of them because I know how much work they put in. Last year, not everything went their way, but we made a clear decision to back them. They’re outstanding characters and top professionals – it’s just really nice to see, also for them personally.”

... die erstmalige Nationalelf-Nominierung von Yan Diomande

„Das ist ja das, was wir wollen. Wir betonen immer wieder, dass wir mit jungen, hungrigen und entwicklungsfähigen Spielern arbeiten wollen. Und wenn wir sie auf ein gewisses Level bringen, ist die Nationalmannschaft eine logische Konsequenz. Dafür arbeiten sie und deshalb freut es uns für Yan. Aber das ist nur ein erster Schritt.“

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