Kenny Macintyre, James McFadden, Pat Nevin and Tom English review Celtic 3-1 RB Leipzig

Brendan Rodgers used pre-match media duties to call for Celtic’s supporters to refrain from using pyrotechnics during the visit of RB Leipzig. Fireworks appeared alright, on the field as Rodgers and his team delivered the kind of performance which the manager yearned for when returning for a second Celtic tenure. Celtic find themselves in a hugely exciting Champions League position, having seen off the team sitting second top of the Bundesliga in a manner which belied years of struggles at this level. Rodgers was perfectly entitled to revel in it. Celtic are proving they can swim in a bigger pond, which serves as a credit to their manager. Leipzig’s display was muted. Still, it would be unreasonable not to emphasise the part Celtic played in that. The hosts attacked with patience and purpose. They defended pretty comfortably. Pieced together, this will rank among Celtic’s finest European performances of recent times. Leipzig had no answer, to the point where they looked a beaten lot long before the end. Continue reading...

Celtic are looking for three successive home wins in the Champions League for the first time since 2007, but RB Leipzig are fighting for their lives in the competition, writes Tom English.

Amy Canavan, Martin O’Neill and Seb Stafford-Bloor preview Celtic v RB Leipzig.

Uefa ban looming if fans repeat Dortmund incident‘There’s a sanction hanging over the club,’ says Rodgers Celtic’s manager, Brendan Rodgers, has reiterated his call for the club’s supporters to stop using pyrotechnics, with the Bonfire Night Champions League visit of RB Leipzig raising fears of a Uefa ban. Supporters’ use of fireworks during last month’s 7-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund led to Celtic being fined by Uefa and told their fans will be banned from attending an away fixture if there is another such incident within two years. The warning was heeded when Celtic drew away to Atalanta two weeks ago, but kick-off was delayed at Saturday’s Scottish League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen after yet another Celtic pyro display. Uefa are keeping a close eye on the matter. Continue reading...

Real Madrid have been linked with RB Leipzig centre-back Castello Lukeba as they continue to weigh up options to strengthen their threadbare defence.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot praises his side's performance after Liverpool secured a 1-0 win at RB Leipzig on match week three of the UEFA Champions League.

Fans of Bundesliga club Mainz unfurled banners criticising their former manager Jurgen Klopp during a 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig on Saturday.

After a favourable start, Klopp’s successor faces first proper test with seven tough games coming over the next 21 days It cannot be media hype to herald Chelsea’s visit to Anfield on Sunday as the start of a defining period for Arne Slot’s Liverpool when Slot himself has been saying pretty much the same for more than a month. Are the early Premier League leaders the real deal? Their head coach remains unsure, although he’s certain he is about to find out. The international break gave Slot opportunity for a mental break, as he put it, taking several days off to reflect on an almost perfect beginning to life at Liverpool and to recharge ahead of a schedule that will be both demanding and revealing. Seven games in 21 days – Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa in the Premier League, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, plus a trip to the Amex Stadium in the Carabao Cup – promise to give a measure of a team that has embraced its transition thus far. Continue reading...

Sidelined in Bremen’s under-23s, the midfielder talks about Anfield regrets and discipline controversy at his club Naby Keïta’s memories are inevitably tinged with regret when he looks back on his Liverpool career. Signed from RB Leipzig for a then club-record £54m after Liverpool paid a £6m premium to ward off competition from others chasing one of Europe’s most in-demand players, the Guinea midfielder was handed Steven Gerrard’s famous No 8 shirt when he arrived at Anfield in 2018. But despite picking up the full set of winners’ medals – from Champions League and the Club World Cup to Liverpool’s first Premier League title – Keïta will always wonder what might have been after injuries restricted him to 49 league starts in five seasons. Continue reading...

These clubs are authors of improbable rises up the levels of German football, albeit with key differences in their details “Many people here,” asserted Frank Schmidt, “don’t even know what my team achieved here today, playing for a result until the end against a Champions League participant. I would like to encourage everyone to look at their performance a little. It was sensational.” RB Leipzig emerged victorious from this Sunday meeting of European competition recoverers in southern Germany which, in context, had no business being as satisfying and as enduringly interesting as it turned out to be. Yet here was coach Schmidt feeling he had the unusual task of defending his team after a historic week in Heidenheim’s history, which almost had an even better ending. Continue reading...