RB Leipzig has succeeded in the explosive and emotionally charged reunion of Max Eberl with his former club Borussia Mönchengladbach a successful dress rehearsal for the Champions League game at Manchester City on Tuesday (21 pm in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the Champions League and Prime Video). On Saturday, the 100th day of the tenure of new sports director Eberl, the DFB Cup winner won against recently weakening Gladbacher with 3:0 (0:0).

Eberl, who left Gladbach in January 2022 after 23 years as a player and sporting director and finally joined RB last December, watched the goals of Timo Werner (58th), Emil Forsberg (71st, foul penalty) and Josko Gvardiol (80th) in the stands next to former RB managing director Oliver Mintzlaff. The former Gladbacher and current RB goalkeeper Janis Blaswich (53.) held a penalty at the score of 0:0 after video evidence of Alassane Plea.

So the Leipzigers, who continue to have their sights firmly set on the Champions League ranks in the Bundesliga, go with tailwind into the second leg of the Champions League round of sixteen at City on Tuesday, where they want to create the big surprise after the 1-1 draw in the first duel and move into the top eight in Europe.

While Eberl warmly welcomed his former employees on the Gladbach side before the game, the away fans who had travelled with him received him less warmly. They insulted him in diatribes, while Eberl was in advance of the TV interview. And the 49-year-old criticized the followers for his part.

"I made no secret of the fact that I was sick. If this topic is then simply negated and it is simply summarized as a change from Gladbach to Leipzig, it is simply wrong," says Eberl on Sky: "This happens to people who take others in the crosshairs, run through the cities with iron bars and light fires."

The Gladbach ultra group Sottocultura had previously described Eberl as a "character pig" who had switched "to the evil side of football". At the same time, with reference to Eberl's burn-out diagnosis, for which he had turned his back on Gladbach, the group wrote of "his invented 'illness', which then accidentally and appropriately paved his way to Leipzig".

On Saturday, the fans also followed up with banners. "Empty words only for appearances, for us only a bull pig" or "Miracle healing by Red Bull. When lying becomes a business model," the block read.

Athletically, Leipzig relied on possession football, but had problems in creating scoring chances, inviting the guests several times carelessly. First Marcus Thuram (10th) failed from an acute angle to Blaswich, before Werner (11th) shortly afterwards checked Gladbach's keeper Tobias Sippel on the other side.

Even after the break, Gladbach continued to have their chances, which were granted to them too easily by RB. Completely alone, Jonas Hofmann ran towards the goal and was only cut off at the last moment by Leipzig's David Raum. Referee Matthias Jöllenbeck had initially seen no foul, corrected himself after viewing the video images. But Blaswich sensed the right corner at the penalty and parried against Plea. Only five minutes later, Werner refined a beautiful solo with a powerful shot under the crossbar. Forsberg finally increased after Plea Amadou had brought down Haidara in the sixteen. Gvardiol put the finishing touch.