RB Leipzig Is A Young Team Eager To Improve – Naby Keita

Even after a Wednesday night’s disappointing DFB Pokal exit, Ralph Hasenhuttl was visibly in a very good mood on Friday. “I think the game was so much fun that we’re really looking forward to the next match,” said the RB Leipzig coach, smiling.

Projecting that kind of optimism is part of the coaching job, of course, but the 50-year-old’s excitement seemed genuine.

Naby Keita, whose ill-discipline created that numerical disadvantage in the 56th minute, wasn’t lying when he suggested that Leipzig had overcome the “fear” factor in the run-up to Wednesday’s second round cup game.

“We were too respectful,” the future Liverpool midfielder told Suddeutsche Zeitung.

RBL still need to show that they can also push Bayern all the way at the Allianz Arena, where courage is a bit harder to come by than at the heaving Red Bull Arena. But if Bayern couldn’t beat Hasenhuttl’s side without “the best man on the pitch,” as the manager described Keita, who’s to say they’ll fare much better if and when the Guinea international actually lasts the entire 90 minutes for a change?

“We can’t protect him — this is not rugby,” said Hasenhuttl. “But I hope that we’ll have a referee [in Munich] who’ll have enough of a feel for the situation to give us a top game that goes on for a little longer.”

“[Keita is] an extraordinarily gifted player, one of the best I’ve worked with in 20 years of professional football,” said RB sporting director Ralf Rangnick. “I’d be 10 times happier if we would could keep him for another five years. But it wasn’t possible.”

Talking to Suddeutsche before the game, Keita admitted that Bayern were the more experienced side. “We are a young team eager to improve. For us, these games are an opportunity to learn and get into situations you can’t train for.” Saturday night’s game between second and third in the Bavarian capital will show if Keita has learned his own lesson and whether Leipzig can get over their last domestic psychological hurdle with his help.