LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Club Brugge came from behind to beat Leipzig 2-1 Tuesday and inflict a second Champions League defeat on the German club, increasing the pressure on new coach Jesse Marsch.
Brugge followed up its unlikely draw with Paris Saint-Germain last month with an unexpected win on the road thanks to goal from Hans Vanaken and Mats Rits after Christopher Nkunku's opening goal for Leipzig.
“We were doing fine up to about 15 meters from the goal and then the last pass wasn’t good,” midfielder Kevin Kampl said. “We said at halftime that we were just far too hectic when we had the ball.”
Leipzig's opening goal in the fifth minute was far more fluid than anything which came after, Emil Forsberg playing a first-touch pass to Nkunku to score as Leipzig sliced through the center of Brugge's formation.
Brugge took advantage of poor Leipzig play at the back to level the score in the 22nd, with Charles De Ketelaere hooking the ball back from the touchline for Vanaken to tap in with goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi stranded. The Leipzig defense was at fault again for the second Brugge goal, as Vanaken hit a deflected cross for the unmarked Rits to apply an easy finish.
Marsch replaced Julian Nagelsmann at Leipzig in the summer when Nagelsmann joined Bayern and the American has struggled to match his predecessor's success at the club.
The defeat to Brugge follows a 6-3 loss at Manchester City in Marsch's first Champions League game at Leipzig and leaves the team yet to earn a point. It also stops any momentum after Leipzig seemed to have turned a corner with a 6-0 demolition of Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
PSG and Brugge are level on four points at the top of Group A after PSG beat Manchester City 2-0 in the other game Tuesday. Leipzig is likely to need points from one or both of its games against PSG to qualify.
“If need to stay calm, there are enough games left, I think anything can happen. But it’s clear that at some point we need to start getting points," Kampl said. “It’s a brutally hard group and we knew that from the start, but we’ll try to do what we can for as long as it’s possible.”
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