Enzo Maresca picked up the phone to his old Malaga team-mate on Monday hoping for a sneak peek at the RB Leipzig line-up, and Martín Demichelis sent him away with nothing.
The Leipzig coach, who won the Premier League with Manchester City in 2013-14, faces Maresca’s side in the Champions League in Leipzig on Wednesday night, with kick-off at 8pm UK time. Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, he described the City boss as one of his closest friends in the game.
There was a useful bit of team news too. Demichelis confirmed that Christoph Baumgartner will start against City, and the Austria international was clear that he thinks Maresca’s team can be got at.
How close are Demichelis and Maresca?
Very. The pair were neighbours during their playing days at Malaga, their children grew up together, and both had their eyes on coaching long before they hung up their boots.
Martín Demichelis said: “I know Enzo very well, he’s one of my best friends in football. I’d say we’re almost like brothers. We lived together, or rather, right next door to each other, in Spain. I’m familiar with his philosophy, his ideas.”
He added: “We started the journey together. He’s very intelligent and pragmatic and it’ll be an honor to take the pitch with him tomorrow.”
Maresca’s phone call that got him nowhere
The friendship clearly only goes so far. Demichelis revealed that Maresca rang him on Monday and was keen to find out how Leipzig would line up.
“There was a lot of interest in my line-up when we spoke yesterday. We think very much alike when it comes to football,” the 45-year-old said. “Enzo wants to know our line-up. I won’t say anything. He’ll find out tomorrow.”
He was full of praise for the man in the other dugout, though: “Enzo is a winner. He’ll be doing everything he can to win titles with Manchester City.”
That will be music to the ears of City fans after a rough week. Back-to-back league defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton have left Maresca’s side three points behind Arsenal, which is why the City boss told his attackers that they cannot rely on Erling Haaland for every goal.
Baumgartner starts, and he thinks City are vulnerable
The one name Demichelis did give away was Baumgartner’s. The 27-year-old will make his first competitive start in almost six months, having been out since suffering a thigh injury in the warm-up before Austria’s friendly against Tunisia in June.
“He will play against Manchester City from the start. We are happy that he is ready for it,” Demichelis said. “Baumi has been working well on his fitness for quite some time.”
Baumgartner has hit the ground running since his return. He scored on his comeback against Real Madrid in the Champions League, found the net again in a 4-0 Bundesliga win over Elversberg and hit both goals in a 2-1 cup win over Rot-Weiss Essen. Ralf Rangnick recalled him to the Austria squad on Monday.
He has watched City’s recent results closely. “An absolute top opponent awaits us,” Baumgartner said. “City has incredible quality, but it has recently been seen that they are vulnerable. We have to be brave.”
“If we show courage on the pitch, then we will also get chances against City. There may not be as many as in the Bundesliga, but they will come and we must use them.”
Does Demichelis care about the charges?
Demichelis spent three seasons at the Etihad, winning the league and two League Cups during the period covered by the financial charges City were found guilty of. Asked whether the threat of sanctions, or of losing those titles, bothered him, he shrugged it off.
“I spent three fantastic years there, but it was a long time ago,” he said. “I’m the coach of RB Leipzig and all I want tomorrow is a good game from RB Leipzig.”
His job is under more pressure than that answer suggests. Demichelis has already said he will walk away if things go wrong at Leipzig, and his side have three points from their first three Champions League games after defeats to Real Madrid and Como and a win over PSV. They sit fourth in the Bundesliga.
RB Leipzig vs Man City verdict: brave is fine, but City should win this
Baumgartner is right that City have looked shaky. Two league defeats in a row tell their own story, and a Leipzig side playing with the courage he is asking for could cause problems.
But City have six points from nine in this competition, and a win in Leipzig would push them towards the top eight and a direct route into the last 16. RB Leipzig have a new coach, a returning playmaker and plenty of belief. City have Haaland, who already knows how much this Leipzig defence would love another go at him. Maresca may not have got the team sheet from his friend on Monday, but he should still have enough to come away with the points.
