Leipzig coach Marsch and goalkeeper positive for coronavirus

Updated Nov. 23, 2021 9:03 a.m. ET

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LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — Leipzig will be without American coach Jesse Marsch and first-choice goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi for Wednesday's Champions League game at Brugge after they contracted the coronavirus.

Marsch was in isolation after testing positive, adding he was fully vaccinated.

Assistant coach Marco Kurth was also out because he had contact with a person in his family who tested positive.

Another assistant coach, Achim Beierlorzer, will oversee the team for the Brugge game, where Leipzig is eyeing a win to finish third in the group and move into the Europa League knockout playoffs.

Leipzig said all first-team players or staff members are either fully vaccinated or have recently recovered from the virus.

Marsch has had a difficult start at Leipzig since joining in the offseason. The team is seventh in the Bundesliga and cannot advance to the Champions League knockout stages after earning one point from its first four games in a group also containing Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

The positive tests were reported a day after Leipzig said attacking midfielder Dani Olmo was unlikely to play again this year with a thigh muscle strain.

All four of the German teams in the Champions League have been affected by virus cases ahead of this week's games. Bayern Munich traveled to play Dynamo Kyiv without seven players who have either tested positive or been in contact with positive cases. Borussia Dortmund is missing forward Thorgan Hazard after a positive test, and Wolfsburg is without goalkeeper Koen Casteels.

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Koen Casteels

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