RB Leipzig professionals have revealed that they received a special post-match team talk from club chairman Oliver Mintzlaff after Saturday afternoon’s Bundesliga fixture against Augsburg. The German Red Bulls entered their own locker room trailing 0-1. They rallied to win 2-1, though the performance wasn’t necessarily pretty and owed much to an own-goal from Augsburg defender Arthur Chaves.
Though RB head coach Ole Werner managed to alleviate some of the pressure placed on him with a victory over Hamburg last week, this weekend’s contest still counted as a “must win”. Mintzlaff, along with fellow club executives Tatjana Haenni Johann Plenge visited the players after the full time whistle to ensure that the momentum would not be squandered.
The win over Hamburger SV last Sunday bumped Leipzig up to fifth place in the Bundesliga table. European competitors Bayer Leverkusen nevertheless had a game in hand. Leverkusen were able to pick up three points in a make-up match against HSV on Tuesday, moving them within one point of the Saxon outfit.
Leipzig are hoping to return to the Champions League with a top-four finish after missing out on Europe entirely for the first time in their (albeit short) Bundesliga history. Mintzlaff – who has been working for Leipzig in an administrative capacity since 2014 – felt the need to pay the team a visit.
Saturday’s victory – combined with Leverkusen’s 3-3 draw with SC Freiburg – now places Leipzig three points above Germany’s red company team in fifth place. The shock result that saw Mainz draw Stuttgart means that RB are actually now level on points with the fourth-placed Swabians.
“Oliver Mintzlaff rallied us in the locker room after the game to focus on the next tasks ahead,” attacker Christoph Baumgartner revealed in the mixed zone afterwards. “He said he wants to see us giving our all every day, just like we did at the end of this game.“
“He told us what we can do better and what we’re already doing well,” midfielder Nicolas Seiwald added. “It was a good talk that focused our attention on the final phase and the dream of playing in the Champions League.“
“I’m pleased with the result, but not so much with the performance,” Werner said at the post match press conference. “I’m still proud of my team for coming from behind for the second consecutive week. The points you need in the end are the ones one gets on the not-so-good days.
“One has to scrape together some ugly wins and force your luck in the end,” Werner continued. “We have a lot of areas in which we need to improve significantly. We haven’t been coherent against the ball in recent weeks.“
“Everybody who loves football loves the ‘crunch-time’ phase of the season,” Werner said in response to a later direct question. “We have what it takes to be successful in this final phase.“
“The team is preparing for this phase,” Werner answered in response to the subsequent question about Mintzlaff. “That’s what Mintzlaff’s visit to the locker room was all about. He’s a part of this. That’s what it was about.
“We all have to pull together,” Werner concluded. “This is a very tight race [for Europe]. There’s a lot of consistent teams this season. He [Mintzlaff] fired us up and I thought that was a great thing.“
