Leipzig look to kick-start campaign at Celtic Park

RB Leipzig won 2-0 at Celtic Park in October 2022

Champions League: Celtic v RB Leipzig

Date: Tuesday, 5 November Venue: Celtic Park Kick-off: 20:00 GMT

Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Scotland & Sounds. Text updates on BBC Sport website & app.

Marco Rose had just taken over as head coach the last time RB Leipzig and Celtic met on Champions League duty and duly delivered two victories in the space of a week.

A 3-1 home win was quickly followed by a 2-0 at Celtic Park against Ange Postecoglou's outfit in October 2022.

It marked their first success in Glasgow, having lost to Brendan Rodgers' Celtic in the 2018-19 Europa League and going down to Rangers in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final in 2022.

Now Rose returns to Celtic Park desperately needing a victory to breathe life into a Champions League campaign that is currently flatlining.

An admittedly unkind draw has left RB Leipzig as one of half-a-dozen pointless teams after three matches, losing on the road to Atletico Madrid, squandering a lead at home to 10-man Juventus, while Darwin Nunez and Liverpool edged them out in their own backyard.

With Inter away next before hosting Aston Villa, three points from this one feel like a necessity for the visitors.

Flying start in Bundesliga

So how well-equipped are they to achieve that task? Well, European results have been in stark contrast to the manner in which they have started the domestic season – until Saturday that is.

The 2-1 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund was their first in the league and ended the club's best top-flight unbeaten run of 19 games, going back to the previous campaign.

Indeed, the 20 points gained in their opening eight matches prior to the weekend represented their best start to a Bundesliga season, so clearly this is not a team to be taken lightly.

They are not, however, at full strength. The talented Xavi Simons, back on loan from PSG after a brilliant season in which he helped RB Leipzig finish in the top four for a sixth successive year, is injured, as is German international full-back David Raum.

It also looks like stylish French centre-back Castello Lukeba will miss out.

Of course you don't compete at the top end of the German league without a strong squad and there are still plenty of talented players Celtic will have to deal with.

Dangerous duo in attack

Benjamin Sesko (left) and Lois Openda have 13 goals between them this season

Their strong league start has been built on a solid, mean defence, with just five conceded after that loss in Dortmund.

Key to that has been the form of the Hungarian international keeper Peter Gulacsi, who kept the score down on Saturday.

He suffered an horrific knee injury when the sides met in Leipzig in 2022, which kept him out for 16 months. But he has battled back to reclaim his number one status and will be aiming to carve out a better memory from this meeting with Celtic.

At the other end of the pitch, there is a dual threat provided by the pairing of Belgium's Lois Openda and the young Slovenian Benjamin Sesko.

The duo combined to give RB Leipzig the lead in the Westfalenstadion at the weekend and will likely provide Cameron Carter-Vickers and company with a few headaches on Tuesday.

Both came to the club in the summer of 2023 and contributed greatly, Openda ending the season with 28 goals.

It is Sesko who is slightly ahead on seven at the moment, scoring all three of his team's Champions League goals. Celtic will do well to prevent him adding to those.