RB Leipzig appoint former Schalke coach Tedesco as Marsch´s successor

Domenico Tedesco has been appointed as RB Leipzig’s new head coach, replacing Jesse Marsch.

Former Schalke boss Tedesco comes in less than a week after Marsch left the club following a third successive Bundesliga defeat.

Marsch joined Leipzig from sister club Salzburg in the off-season, but the task of replacing Julian Nagelsmann proved too great for the American.

A defeat to Union Berlin on Saturday has left them 11th in the table, though Leipzig responded under Achim Beierlorzer by beating Manchester City 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

That victory ensured Leipzig drop into a two-legged play-off for a place in the Europa League last 16.

Tedesco has now been handed the reins, signing a contract until June 2023. Leipzig also confirmed assistant coach Beierlorzer has left the club.

Welcome to #RBLeipzig, Domenico #Tedesco! 

The 36-year-old takes over from Jesse Marsch as head coach on a deal until June 2023.

#WeAreLeipzig pic.twitter.com/0GWYAWoiPa

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) December 9, 2021

The 36-year-old was last in charge of Spartak Moscow, spending two seasons in Russia after he was dismissed by Schalke in 2019.

Tedesco, who graduated from the DFB coaching school in the same class as Nagelsmann, finished second in the Bundesliga in his first season with Schalke in 2017-18 but was unable to maintain that form the following season.

Despite Tedesco’s dismissal, Schalke’s slide continued and they were relegated from the top flight last term. 

His first task will be to fix Leipzig’s defensive issues. They have already committed six errors leading to shots in the Bundesliga – an increase of one from the entirety of last season – and three of those have ended in goals. None of their mistakes directly resulted in goals conceded under Nagelsmann in 2020-21. 

Leipzig have let in 18 goals in the top flight but have an expected goals (xG) against of 23.6. Their xG against in the 2020-21 top-flight campaign was 29.6.

Tedesco’s first game in charge will come against Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday.