- Title: RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim resent being labelled "plastic clubs"
- Date: 27th January 2017
- Summary: LEIPZIG, GERMANY (JANUARY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PLAYERS RUNNING DRILL HASENHUETTL WATCHING VARIOUS OF PLAYERS TRAINING WITH ROPES COMPPER DURING TRAINING PLAYERS RUNNING
- Embargoed: 10th February 2017 16:17
- Keywords: Hoffenheim Bundesliga German RB Leipzig Ralph Hasenhuettl Marvin Compper Julian Nagelsmann
- Location: LEIPZIG AND ZUZENHAUSEN, GERMANY
- City: LEIPZIG AND ZUZENHAUSEN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00360UW0FZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: RB Leipzig is looking forward to "a high-class and probably very close match" against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday (January 28), said the team's coach Ralph Hasenhuettl on Thursday (January 26).
However both teams have attracted criticism, with the upcoming game being criticised as "El Plastico" - a play on the term "El Classico".
Fans of other more established and traditional teams say that wealthy individuals or companies owning teams makes them "plastic," purely about making money rather than for the love of the game.
It especially irks them that the two young teams are doing so well in the Bundesliga.
RB Leipzig are backed by the energy drinks giants Red Bull, who founded the club in 2009 and named the team RasenBallsport Leipzig to get around the Bundesliga rule forbidding teams from carrying a sponsor's name. Hoffenheim meanwhile is owned by software billionaire Dietmar Hopp.
Despite the criticism, the match is shaping up to be suspenseful, with Hoffenheim remaining the only unbeaten team in Europe's top five leagues and RB Leipzig currently second place in the league.
RB Leipzig's centre back Marvin Compper calls the "El Plastico" jibe distracting.
"This is an extremely attractive game for us, an extremely important game against a team that has not yet lost, that is a huge challenge ... therefore I do not care what anyone writes on the Internet," he told reporters at the news conference.
Hoffenheim's coach Julian Nagelsmann was also indifferent and said, "I'm looking forward to a Bundesliga game, and it will be an attractive game. And whether it's El Plastico or El Gigantissimo or whatever else it's called, I don't care."
Nagelsmann, the youngest coach in Bundesliga history, is currently in talks to join Bayern Munich's coaching staff. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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