Austrian duel in Leipzig under police protection

2023-10-25 06:00:00

From a sporting perspective, Red Bull Leipzig can look forward to today’s Champions League home game against Red Star Belgrade quite relaxed. The Saxons are two points ahead of Young Boys Bern and the Serbs in second place in Group G, and with a win they would be relatively close to the round of 16. Many observers are worried about the heated atmosphere surrounding this game. The guests are accompanied by 2,500 fans, of whom, according to media reports, the German police classify 600 as “seeking violence” and 1,000 as “prone to violence”. The security measures were “fundamentally increased,” confirmed a police spokeswoman. In addition to the cavalry squadron, a helicopter will also be in use today.

In Leipzig there will be an Austrian duel between Xaver Schlager, Nicolas Seiwald and Christoph Baumgartner on the Leipzig side and Aleksandar Dragovic on the Belgrade side. Schlager was rested at the weekend for load management reasons, but is ready to play again. “The last few weeks have been very strenuous. My body was therefore at its limit. The break was very good for me and was very important for me. Now I can attack again,” said the Saint Valentiner, who showed respect for the Serbs. “They live for these games and therefore always go above 100 percent.” Leipzig coach Marco Rose also has experience with Red Star from his time in Salzburg. “In Salzburg it was almost an away game. I believe that there will also be a lot of Serbian fans here who will support their team with everything,” said Rose. Belgrade’s bench was also “very active” during the game. “It’s passion, but we can do it too,” emphasized Rose.

Dortmund has to deliver

Borussia Dortmund is back on track in the Bundesliga, but they still have a debt to deliver in the Champions League. After only one point from two games so far, the team with ÖFB team player Marcel Sabitzer is doomed to win today in Newcastle (9 p.m./live Servus TV).

The upward trend with five recent league successes gives us courage for the difficult task. “We ate a bit of food,” said Sebastian Kehl. The sports director expects a passionate duel with a lot of noise from the stands and a lot of passion on the pitch: “It’s going to be really exciting.” Newcastle recently impressively demonstrated what is possible at St. James’ Park in their 4-1 win against Paris Saint Germain.