RB Leipzig will still be without international footballer David Raum against bottom club Holstein Kiel. "He won't be able to return to team training until next week," said interim coach Zsolt Löw ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga match (3.30pm/Sky) against the promoted side.
Defender Willi Orban is also still questionable. A final test in the final training session should shed light on whether he will be able to make the squad. The captain recently trained individually. Raum, on the other hand, will only be an issue for the Frankfurt game after his muscular problems - as will Assan Ouedraogo.
Paintball preparation
Although RB have never lost to a Bundesliga promotion contender and have won 31 of their 35 games so far with four draws, Löw warned against the northern Germans. "It won't be an easy game against the team bottom of the table. It will be a big task. Holstein Kiel are a team that never gives up. They drew against Leverkusen and Stuttgart and almost took a point against Bayern," said Löw
Löw made his debut with the team together with assistant coach Peter Krawietz with a game of paintball. "We wanted to create added value and something for team building. The boys had fun and were in a good mood," he said.
Baumgartner to replace Simons
Even though Kiel are very strong in terms of running and have always scored at least one goal away from home, Löw is relying on his own strengths despite Xavi Simons' yellow card suspension. Christoph Baumgartner will act as the substitute playmaker. "His moment has come to stand in for Xavi. I'm sure that he will play a good game one hundred percent. Baumi is a stable, experienced player, he's on fire, he's ready, he just needs more playing time and a bit of luck," said Löw.
The coach also spoke highly of Ridle Baku in his new attacking role: "Ridle has worked very hard for this, his goal recently was like a liberating blow, he is on a very good path, has run 13 kilometers every game, he is an added value for the team."
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