(Football news) RB Lepizig sacked their manager Domenico Tedesco on Wednesday after losing 4-1 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. Tedesco had previously led Leipzig to their first major title in their 13-year history as they won the German Cup last season but a poor start to the Bundesliga season which also included a 4-0 thrashing against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Leipzig are scheduled to host Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday and a trip to defending UCL champions Real Madrid in the Champions League group stages next week on Wednesday. Shakhtar came to Leipzig with a very weakened squad after losing most of its overseas players following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the team managed to score from four of its five shots on goal. Tedesco was only hired by Leipzig nine months ago and was previously coached by Russian club Spartak Moscow for two years. Leipzig did not immediately name him as the head coach but he was acting as an interim coach before he was given the manager position.
Leipzig are currently sitting 11th in the Bundesliga standings, having only won just one of their opening five games this season. Their most recent league outing saw them lose 4-0 to Eintracht Frankfurt, meaning that they shipped eight goals in their last two games. Tedesco guided Leipzig to the Europa League semi-finals last season, but has paid the price for a poor start to the 2022-23 season. Former Borussia Dortmund boss Marco Rose is now set to take over the Red Bull side.
Rose has been a member of the Red Bull scheme of things before also as he went on to win two Austrian titles with Red Bull Salzburg before moving to Germany. Rose apparently flew to Leipzig in a private jet on Wednesday from Salzburg, where he watched the home side draw with AC Milan in the Champions League. Rose, whose first proper head coaching job was in charge of Lokomotiv Moscow is set to bring with him several assistant coaches including former professional players Alexander Zickler, Frank Geideck and Marco Kurth. Leipzig is also rumoured to be appointing Max Eberl for the vacant sporting director position, who held the position alongside Rose during their time with Gladbach.
“For this, Domenico and his coaching staff deserve our gratitude,” Leipzig chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff said of the German Cup win. “However, after our mediocre start to the Bundesliga season with five points from five games, along with the recent defeats to Eintracht and Shakhtar, we believe that a change of management is the right course of action to turn things round quickly.”
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