“No need to get nervous” | OneFootball

RB Leipzig's run of five straight wins came to an end away to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Red Bulls were in agreement that it was a night to forget, with Ole Werner’s side clear in their assessment after the 4-1 loss.

"We weren’t at the level you need to be at to win in Leverkusen," said Christoph Baumgartner. At the same time, Baumi and Co. quickly turned their focus back to what comes next. In front of our own fans, we now want to take our second chance to seal Champions League qualification against St. Pauli!

1. Lessons from the Leverkusen game

The main issue after the defeat at the BayArena was quickly identified as defensive stability. RBL allowed Leverkusen nine shots on target. Across the previous five wins, that figure had stood at just 3.4 on average. With an xG of 3.52, Leverkusen were able to create too many clear chances.

“We lacked intensity out of possession. We let Leverkusen have too much of the ball and they found the spaces between the lines. That was exactly what we wanted to stop,” was Willi Orban's analysis. Ole Werner reached a similar conclusion: “We knew Leverkusen are very good through the middle. We didn’t handle it well and couldn’t get a grip defensively."

Orban added that being less clinical than in recent weeks “came on top of that”. Werner described RBL’s attacking performance as “too slow and laboured for long spells”. One of the best chances came after around 15 minutes, when Rômulo was denied by a goal-line block from Bayer’s Garcia.

2. Take the positives

“We can’t let our heads drop. We have to analyse it and look forward,” Baumi told Sportschau in his assessment of the defeat.

That also means taking the positives from a "difficult" evening. Centre-back Castello Lukeba made his comeback after recovering from an adductor injury, having missed the previous three games. The Frenchman came on at half time. Captain David Raum was also back in the squad after groin problems.

In attack, Brajan Gruda, who also came on at the break, delivered a fine cross for Baumgartner’s headed goal. It was Gruda's sixth goal involvement in an RB Leipzig shirt. Baumi scored his 13th goal of the season, and is now once again RBL’s top goalscorer this term.

3. A top performance needed against St. Pauli

RB Leipzig now have to pick themselves up again. Next Saturday’s home game against St. Pauli brings another chance to wrap up Champions League qualification. With a four-point lead over fifth-placed Stuttgart, RBL remain in the strongest position in the race for UCL football.

“We don’t need to get nervous. We know what we’re capable of and what we’ve shown over the last few weeks. We’ve earned the position we’re in. Nobody gave it to us. The focus is now completely on the next game,” said Baumi.

RBL are unbeaten in six home games, with four wins and two draws, and have won 11 times at home in total this season. We also have the second-highest number of home goals in the league with 38. We have won three of our four competitive meetings at the Red Bull Arena with FC St. Pauli to date.

Even so, Werner was right to warn against taking the meeting with relegation-threatened St. Pauli lightly: “We’ll need another top performance there. We’ll be well prepared.”

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