RB Leipzig sack Marco Rose amid poor campaign in Bundesliga and Europe

The Guardian

30-03-2025

RB Leipzig have confirmed the sacking of manager Marco Rose amid a disappointing season in the Bundesliga and in Europe.
'Marco Rose has been relieved of his duties as RB Leipzig head coach with immediate effect,' said a club statement. 'The club will announce who will take over the head coach role on an interim basis in due course.'
Leipzig are currently sixth in the Bundesliga table after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach, who moved above them into fifth place. Germany is likely to receive four Champions League places next season; Mainz are currently fourth, three points ahead of Leipzig with a game in hand.
The club are thought to be interested in the Crystal Palace manager, Oliver Glasner, who has previously managed Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany. Jürgen Klopp, Red Bull's head of global soccer, is believed to be an admirer of the 50-year-old, who led Frankfurt to the Europa League title in 2022.
'We have believed in our co-operation with Marco and his team for a very long time and, up to now, tried everything to turn things around together,' said RB Leipzig's managing director for sport, Marcel Schäfer.
'Given the development and the continued lack of results, we're all firmly convinced that we need new impetus for the remainder of the campaign in order to achieve our aims for the season,' Schäfer added. 'We'd like to thank Marco and his coaching team for the success we enjoyed together and their commitment to the club.'
Leipzig had been expected to part ways with Rose at the end of the season, but appear to have acted in an effort to rescue a top-four finish. The club have also confirmed that Rose's assistant coaches Alexander Zickler, Marco Kurth and Frank Geideck have also left the club, along with the head of first-team football, Frank Aehlig.
The 48-year-old Rose was appointed by Leipzig in September 2022, replacing Domenico Tedesco. The former Dortmund, Gladbach and Red Bull Salzburg coach guided Leipzig to the German Cup in the 2022-23 season – defeating Glasner's Eintracht side in the final, and adding the German Super Cup in 2023.
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Leipzig have reached the German Cup semi-finals this term, and travel to Stuttgart on Wednesday to try and book a place in the final. Their performance in the inaugural Champions League 'league phase' was disastrous, though, winning just one of their eight games and finishing in 32nd place to make an early exit.
In January, Rose had expressed excitement at working with Klopp as the former Liverpool manager began work at Red Bull. 'We're looking forward to his network, to his experience, to him as a person,' said Rose, who played under Klopp at Mainz. 'It's always good to get new input and learn something new.'