Jürgen Klopp, although employed these days by Red Bull as their head of global soccer, confirmed recently that he remains a realist when it comes to the German attitude toward the multinational energy drinks company's football involvement. That doesn't mean he and those charged with making a success of RB Leipzig and the other clubs in their group aren't giving it everything to make it so.

The fact is, RBL have made a deliberate decision to go "back to the roots," as they call it, this season. Yes, their roots may not be deep -- they have been around only since 2009 and in the Bundesliga since 2016 -- but the early Gegenpressing seeds planted by Ralf Rangnick are fashionable again.

The reward for their decision in the summer to return to this style of intensive, emotional football

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