RB coach Werner: Fitness debate "simply nonsense"

For RB Leipzig coach Ole Werner, a lack of fitness is not an explanation for his team's dip in results in recent weeks. "That this is now an issue, that the team isn't fit enough, that's just nonsense," said the 37-year-old ahead of the Saxons' Bundesliga match at newly promoted Hamburger SV on Sunday (7.30pm/DAZN).

RB had recently conceded goals in the closing stages more often than not. Against Borussia Dortmund last weekend, the team let a 2-0 lead slip at the break. "In four of the last five games, we ran more than our opponents in the final quarter of an hour or from the 75th minute onwards," emphasized Werner.

"That probably says more about how organized we are in this phase and that we don't manage to be as clearly organized as we were in the minutes before." His team did not always manage to calm the game down when leading in the closing phases.

RB must fear for the top flight

Leipzig have won just one of their last five league games and are two points behind fourth-placed Stuttgart ahead of the matchday. Direct qualification for the Champions League is in acute danger.

Werner blames a lack of effectiveness for the lower yield. "It's there on one side of the pitch when it comes to converting chances. But it also exists on the other side when it comes to conceding fewer goals from the few chances the opponents have," said the coach.

Midfielder Xaver Schlager will miss the Saxons in the Hanseatic city due to adductor problems, but is already back in training, said Werner. "We're confident that it won't take too long."