RB Leipzig will have to do this the hard way again. Christopher Nkunku will not travel for Tuesday’s DFB-Pokal second-round tie at Rot-Weiss Essen, and that is exactly the kind of selection call that sharpens the edge of a knockout away trip. When you go into a cup tie on hostile territory without one of your most dangerous attackers, the margin for comfort shrinks fast.
Martin Demichelis made the call on Monday and played it down as “nicht schlimm”, but there is nothing routine about losing a player of Nkunku’s influence. He also missed Leipzig’s previous match against SV Elversberg, which only underlines how carefully the club are managing his situation. The positive for Leipzig is that Demichelis expects him to be in the squad for the upcoming Bundesliga away match at Schalke 04. The message, then, is clear: Leipzig are not panicking, but they are also not pretending this is ideal.
A cup tie that demands concentration
Demichelis was blunt about the challenge in Essen. His words made the point without any need for drama: this is “a hard task”, and RB Leipzig know they are meeting a third-division side that will throw everything into the game. That is exactly what the DFB-Pokal is supposed to do to bigger clubs. It strips away the safety net and asks whether the stronger squad can cope with pressure, atmosphere and the basic inconvenience of an opponent who has nothing to lose.
And Essen, by Demichelis’ own description, will bring plenty of that. He spoke of a good team and an intense atmosphere, which is the sort of warning label top-flight sides ignore at their peril. Home cup ties have a nasty habit of becoming awkward if the favorite starts slowly or assumes the contest will sort itself out. Leipzig cannot afford that kind of arrogance, especially with Nkunku absent and with the stakes of a second-round exit hanging over the evening.
No excuses, just expectations
There is a difference between saying a missing player is “not bad” and pretending his absence means nothing. Nkunku matters because players of his quality matter. That does not change simply because Leipzig remain strong enough to cope on paper. The real test is whether they can turn that paper advantage into a performance that settles the tie before Essen start believing.
That is the real tension here. RB Leipzig are expected to progress, but expectation is not execution. Without Nkunku, they lose a layer of threat that can decide tight knockout matches. If they come through in Tuesday’s 18.00 kick-off, it will be because they handled the atmosphere, respected the opponent and avoided the kind of cup-night sloppiness that turns a manageable away trip into a mess. Demichelis has already made the point: Essen will make it difficult. Leipzig now have to prove they are good enough to make it look simple.
