RB sporting director Schäfer warns against too high expectations

Despite the great ambitions of Bundesliga soccer team RB Leipzig and the current crisis, sporting director Marcel Schäfer has warned against expecting too much from the club. In an interview with "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung" and "RBlive", the former international said that the club should not spiral into a situation where anything less than the German championship would be a disappointment.

"There are still clubs that play in a different league economically. That doesn't mean that we don't want to try everything to reach the top and get the maximum out of it. But what I don't like is that certain things are taken for granted. Winning in the Bundesliga is not a given; playing in the Champions League is not a given," emphasized the manager.

RB doesn't want to go into administration mode

Schäfer explained that development also includes phases in which things might not go so well. "And that as a club you then show a wagon-castle mentality and great unity and reflect on what made us strong. How can we even come back stronger?" said Schäfer. They only want fellow campaigners who think the same way: "To put it even more clearly: we don't want an administrative mode! But where we are now, the air is relatively thin."

The team is particularly unhappy with its international performance this season and sees the end of the season as a question of character. "Yes, permanent Champions League qualification is our goal, but does that make it a given? No. That is the curse of the good deeds of recent years - our task is to find a good balance," said the sporting director.

Leipzig's development has been "incredibly rapid and unique in this country". "The fact that the club has not only established itself in the Bundesliga, but also in the top flight straight away with fresh, clear soccer - that has never happened before," said Schäfer.

The team of coach Marco Rose has only won one of its last seven games in the Bundesliga and has slipped to sixth place in the table. RB were eliminated from the top flight with just one win in eight games.