Julian Nagelsmann Bemoans Packed Bundesliga Schedule After Leipzig Stumble Against Hertha BSC

RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann was critical of his players after slack defending enabled Hertha BSC to secure an unexpected draw against the Bundesliga title hopefuls.

He did, however, shift a lot of the blame onto the DFL's crammed scheduling of the resumed Bundesliga fixtures, referring to his side having to play two games in four days as being an 'English week' for them.

RB Leipzig played out a hard fought 2-2 draw against the capital team, where they fell behind within the first ten minutes to a Marko Grujic volley. The Liverpool loanee found space in the box from a corner and netted, a goal Nagelsmann was not impressed with.

Speaking after the match to Goal, he said: "I'm not at all satisfied. We have to ascribe this to ourselves. We simply have to learn so that we are not constantly lagging behind. In the beginning, we defended like a student team. The frustration is deep."

Leipzig did turn themselves around and showed the ability which took them to the Champions League quarter finals, firstly through a Lukas Klostermann header from yet another Christopher Nkunku assist.

Leipzig pressed on and even when Marcel Halstenberg was shown a second yellow on 63 minutes, they searched for a winner. They finally struck on 68 minutes through Patrik Schick, via a calamitous error from Rune Jarstein. A win would have lifted Leipzig to second in the Bundesliga after Dortmund's loss to Bayern.

The sending off proved fatal, however, and young Matheus Cunha caused no end of problems as the game was stretched. He won the penalty which Krzysztof Piatek converted on 82 minutes to secure a point.

RB Leipzig's lack of energy in the final quarter of the game was apparent as Cunha ran them ragged, leaving Naglesmann to bemoan the lack of time to recover between games.

Nagelsmann added "It was difficult to get into the game, which is normal; for us, it was the first 'English week' for months. It wasn't an 'English week' for Hertha. They had a four-day break. I don't understand how the game is scheduled. Hertha play on Friday, we on Sunday and have our game on Wednesday.

"It is again the case that we get a really sh*tty game plan. That was addressed at the DFL meeting, but nobody is interested."

Hertha boss Bruno Labbadia, on the other hand, was delighted, despite not being able to overcome ten men. The draw means that Hertha are still unbeaten under him since his appointment in April.