‘We Just Had No Chance Against Paris’ – RB Leipzig Manager Reflects on Their Semi-Finals Loss to PSG

Leipzig's German headcoach Julian Nagelsmann looks on prior the UEFA Champions League semi-final football match between Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain at the Luz stadium in Lisbon on August 18, 2020. (Photo by David Ramos / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DAVID RAMOS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Nearly two weeks removed from their 3-0 loss in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann spoke with SportBild to reflect on the match. 

The 33-year-old was honest in his assessment of his squad’s performance against Les Parisiens. Nagelsmann stated that they had no chance against the capital club. That if they wanted to defeat PSG on that day, they needed everything to go right for them that night.

“It was actually the day after. I have to say that I can deal with defeats in the Bundesliga, where we didn’t implement our match plan and were not on fire, much worse. We just had no chance against Paris. You have to see both clubs and the transfer expenses,” Nagelsmann said.

“Sure, we dared to make it to the final. But there has to be a lot more right on a day like this than was the case. I’m always critical, also when it comes to basic regulations. But we could have done whatever we wanted against Paris that day – we wouldn’t have won.”

Nagelsmann is adding that everyone could see the difference in transfer budgets, which is a cop-out. Lyon went through two clubs with bigger transfer budgets, and if they could’ve put away their chances against FC Bayern Munich, it might’ve been three. 

Do large transfer budgets help build a squad? Yes. 

However, as any PSG Supporter will say, that’s not enough to make a deep run in the Champions League. The capital club has spent a fair amount of money since the Qatar Sports Investment takeover, and it took them nine years to reach the final. 

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Tags Champions League Julian Nagelsmann RB Leipzig
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