RB Leipzig can take the first concrete step in Ole Werner's rebuild on Saturday when they host Borussia Mönchengladbach at 15.30, with a win enough to secure at least the Conference League if Eintracht Frankfurt do not beat Wolfsburg at the same time.
That is the immediate prize for a team that Werner inherited after a bad season and a major summer rebuild. Leipzig's coach has won 16 of his first 28 Bundesliga matches, and the possibility of locking up a place in Europe on home soil gives his next test against Gladbach extra weight.
Werner made the target plain when he was presented in July 2025. Leipzig wanted back into international competition, he said, and he added that the faster the club reaches Europe again, the greater the chance of getting back to the Champions League. That is the bar now. Leipzig no longer talk only about returning to Europe; their current target is the Champions League.
The timing matters because the schedule has turned the finish line into a live calculation. Leipzig can wrap up at least the Conference League before the weekend is over, and Werner has already said he would not be satisfied with ending fifth if the side had been third with six matches left. He also framed the run-in as a fight that will likely last to the final day, saying it will be a hard job to stay there and that the teams chasing those places will be battling until the 34th matchday.
There is also a strong home pattern behind Leipzig's belief. They have never lost any of their nine home matches against Gladbach at the Red Bull Arena, and they have won five of those nine meetings. The sides drew 0-0 in the first half of the season, which leaves Saturday's rematch open but also underlines how little there was between them earlier in the campaign.
Werner's challenge is that a club can move quickly in one direction and still not be where it wants to be. Leipzig's first target under him could be met in a single afternoon, but the larger one remains ahead, and the margin for error shrinks with every round. Gladbach do not need to change the shape of Leipzig's season, but they can delay the next step.
If Leipzig do the job and Frankfurt slip, the club will already have something to show for the new era: a return to Europe secured, with the Champions League still in sight.
