After winning the Super Cup for the first time, those responsible at RB Leipzig are hoping for a new boost of self-confidence for the upcoming Bundesliga season. The Leipzigers can also be satisfied with the new arrivals around Xavi Simons and Lois Openda.
Of course, the celebrations of the Leipzig staff on Sunday night were not nearly comparable to those a good two months earlier after winning the DFB Cup in Berlin. There was, of course, a great deal of joy and a fair amount of relief when the RB professionals and club officials toasted the first-ever win of the DFL Super Cup after the 3-0 victory at FC Bayern. “You have now won two cups. That’s first of all an expression and shows what we’ve worked for,” said sporting director Max Eberl: “Such a victory can and should give a lot of self-confidence.”
That applies first and foremost to Dani Olmo, who was the match-winner with the first treble of his career and stole the show from Bayern’s record transfer Harry Kane. But especially in view of the hype in Munich about the record goalscorer of the English national team, Eberl emphasised Leipzig’s performance as a collective. “With our opponent, there was a lot of focus on one player. Football is still a team sport,” Eberl said. Olmo, like RB veterans Willi Orban, Emil Forsberg or Yussuf Poulsen, “helped the young players extremely that they have brought such a performance. “
By this, Eberl was primarily referring to Lois Openda (23) and Xavi Simons (20), who are the furthest along of the nine newcomers and have what it takes to become regular players straight away. “They were very good in the game, were brave,” said Eberl, but added: “They took very good first steps, but you can’t expect huge things now. You could tell they were enjoying what they were doing. “
A lot of playing time awaits Seiwald
Faster than expected, Nicolas Seiwald (22) got the opportunity to break free. After Amadou Haidara had suffered a serious calf injury in the previous week and Kevin Kampl had felt discomfort in his thigh during the warm-up, the newcomer from Salzburg made his competitive debut. For about 20 minutes he was nervous, but then he got his teeth into the game.
The Austrian will also get plenty of playing time in the coming weeks. That also beckons Benjamin Sesko, who is competing with Timo Werner for the second forward spot next to Openda. In Munich, Werner defended his place with a decent performance and the assist for Olmo’s 2:0 dream goal. Sesko, however, provided plenty of activity after coming on as a substitute and is breathing down the neck of the international.
For Carvalho, only the wild card role remains for now
Fabio Carvalho (20) also found his feet after coming on as a substitute, including setting up Sesko’s great chance shortly before the end. The Liverpool loanee, however, still has to learn the ropes and will probably have to settle for the role of wild card for the time being.
Christoph Baumgartner has yet to prove his worth. The attacking midfielder, who was brought from Hoffenheim, missed important parts of the preparation due to thigh problems, but is expected to return to full fitness this week. If there is no setback, he could be in the squad for the start of the Bundesliga in Leverkusen.
