Rose acknowledges Leipzig “need to start picking up points” ahead of Celtic clash

Marco Rose knows RB Leipzig must start picking up points in the Champions League – and preferably three against Celtic.

Three games into the Champions League campaign, RB Leipzig are one of six teams with zero points, with narrow defeats to Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Liverpool leaving them 31st out of 36.

As such, points – and preferably wins – are desperately needed for Leipzig in Europe’s elite club competition, and head coach Marco Rose is well aware of that heading into Tuesday’s away game against Celtic.

“We’ve played three games and are still on zero points. We know that’s not enough and that we have to start picking up points. We’ve now got another chance to do that,” Rose said at his pre-match press conference. 

“It’s an important game, but they all are in this league phase. The lads know that, I can tell. There are things from the Dortmund game that we want to improve on in order to help us get all three points,” he added, referring to Leipzig’s 2-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund at the weekend.

In terms of personnel, Castello Jr. will once again be missing alongside long-term absentees Xavi Simons, David Raum and Xaver Schlager.

Benjamin Henrichs and Lukas Klostermann are both struggling with knocks, but should be available on Tuesday.