Marco Rose Could Reunite with RB Leipzig in 2025
marco rose could be back in RB Leipzig’s Champions League path next season if AFC Bournemouth finish fifth in the Premier League. Leipzig ended its Bundesliga season with a 1-4 loss on Saturday, but still secured a place in Europe’s top competition for next season.
Rose and Bournemouth
Rose is set to become Bournemouth’s coach from the coming summer, and the Premier League club is still fighting for qualification to the highest European competition. Bournemouth sits sixth, leaving the top-five race open and the reunion scenario alive.
That makes Leipzig’s return more than a routine qualification note. A side that spent one season away from European competition could now run into a former coach almost immediately, provided Bournemouth climbs one place before the league season ends.
Leipzig’s Saturday finish
Leipzig’s qualification came after a 1-4 defeat on Saturday, a result that closed the Bundesliga campaign with frustration on the pitch and a Champions League place secured in the standings. The contrast is stark: the season ended badly, but the club still gets the continental stage back.
Michael Kretschmer was among the 47,800 guests at the sold-out match at Red Bull Arena, and he tied the club’s return to a wider football point in Saxony. “Seit 10 Jahren spielt RB Leipzig in der 1. Bundesliga und seit heute auch wieder in der Champions League ab der nächsten Saison,” he said after the match.
“Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Tolle Fußballerlebnisse, auch in den nächsten Jahren. Sachsen ist ein Fußballland! Es ist so großartig, dass wir das alles miteinander haben!”
Schlieck and Odebrecht
Leipzig also moved on two contract fronts. Timo Schlieck, the 20-year-old goalkeeper now on loan at SpVgg Greuther Fürth, was extended until 2029 while he remains in a relegation playoff against Essen to stay in the second division.
Viola Odebrecht also signed through 2030 after seven years leading Leipzig’s women’s and girls’ football department. “Inzwischen haben wir uns in der Bundesliga etabliert - aber was wir zu meinem Start im Jahr 2019 begonnen haben, ist damit noch nicht abgeschlossen,” she said after the extension.
Leipzig’s women are 10th before their penultimate league match against Bayer Leverkusen on Monday evening, and the men finish at home against FC St. Pauli on Saturday afternoon. For the Champions League draw, the only detail that still matters is Bournemouth’s finish: fifth would set up the Rose reunion, anything lower would push it away.
