FC Bayern and RB Leipzig open the 15th Bundesliga matchday. A reunion awaits Max Eberl, which only appears to be explosive.
Munich – Before he took office at FC Bayern in March of this year, Max Eberl caused a stir on several levels.
Eberl's first nine months at RB Leipzig
The 51-year-old joined RB Leipzig as Sports Director on December 1, 2022 and fell out of favor with many Bundesliga fans. Above all, parts of the supporters of his former club Borussia Mönchengladbach accused Eberl of having resigned in January 2022 under the pretext of mental illness in order to join the Red Bulls.
When Eberl and RB then signed Nicolas Seiwald from Salzburg, the sports director was confronted with defending the very transfer policy that he had criticized in the past. Eberl was considered a figure of irritation and hatred until his dismissal was announced in September 2023 – which in turn caused laughter among fans, as both sides seemed extremely ambitious just nine months earlier.
Eber l wanted to “knock FC Bayern off their throne”
Interest in the failed love affair between Leipzig and Eberl is flaring up again before the two clubs meet at the Allianz Arena (Friday, 8.30 p.m.). There is so much to tell from the perspective of today's Bayern boss.
“I did Leipzig back then because I wanted to attack Bavaria.” It was the big vision of dethroning Bayern in their series of titles. “Both sides realized after a year that RB and Max Eberl might not be a good fit,” said Eberl at the record champions’ matchday press conference. “It’s not dramatic, I don’t think it’s bad either.”
It is not without a certain irony that Eberl is now under contract with the very club whose dominance he wanted to break. Since March he has had the task of restoring it. That failed in the DFB Cup, but FC Bayern will celebrate their 34th championship at the end of the season.
Eberl feels “no anger at all”
At the same time, it is indirectly Eberl's job to put Marco Rose in trouble. The coach, with whom he has “a very, very close relationship”, is under observation despite the victories against Eintracht Frankfurt (3:0, 2:1) and Holstein Kiel (2:0). If they lose in Munich, they will be nine points behind, and after six defeats in the Champions League, Leipzig will have no chance of reaching the round of 16.
It seems tempting to spoil RB boss Oliver Mintzlaff's Christmas, doesn't it? No, says Eberl. The relationship with Mintzlaff is “totally professional. We sat down and discussed it thoroughly. “I thanked you for the cooperation after we had terminated the contract,” emphasized the Bayern boss and added: “There is no anger at all, no anger – there is rivalry. Oli wants RB to win, we want the points to stay in the Allianz Arena.”
So everything is fine – and in the end it's “just” about football and not about personal vanity.
