Bundesliga: Leipzig eye double punch against Union

RB Leipzig will look to carry the momentum from their midweek last-gasp German Cup semi-final win over Union Berlin when the two sides meet again in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Last season’s Bundesliga runners-up snatched a 2-1 victory against Union thanks to Emil Forsberg’s stoppage time header to give them a shot at a trophy this season and keep them on course for a top four finish.

The Swede hopes that win will carry them past visitors Union again.

“We have to take this positive swing into the game and play with self-confidence,” Forsberg told a news conference on Friday.

“The confidence that we can win it and play good football but also show the same mentality and passion of our past few games. We are in good form and you can see we are enjoying ourselves,” the attacking midfielder added.

Leipzig are in third place on 54 points with four games left in the season, two ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in fourth and three in front of fifth-placed Freiburg. Union are sixth on 47.

Yet only a few months ago such a season finale looked more than unlikely for Leipzig.

They were languishing in the lower half of the table when Domenico Tedesco took over in December to turn their season around.

“We were in a situation in December where something like that had not happened at the club. The first few months were very difficult,” Forsberg said. “It was the first time things were not going well.”

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After a 2-0 loss to strugglers Arminia Bielefeld on Dec. 18 and the arrival of Tedesco, they went on to win 10 of their next 13 league matches to climb back up the table.

“We had more than we showed at the time,” Forsberg said. “That game against Bielefeld showed us more needs to come from everyone of us. Since then you can see we have a lot of quality.

“We have the chance to win titles with the club and this is pushing us. We have things to do and want to win big things here.”