Lukeba’s Return Could Be The Boost Demichelis Needs At Leipzig

Martín Demichelis has spent the opening weeks of his RB Leipzig tenure trying to make his team play on the front foot.

The problem is that playing on the front foot comes with a price.

Leipzig wants to press high, attack quickly, and keep opponents trapped in their own half. But when that first wave is beaten, there is an enormous amount of grass behind it. Someone has to defend that space.

Castello Lukeba may be the player Demichelis trusts most to do it.

That is why his expected return after the international break could be considerably more important than simply adding another name to Leipzig's team sheet.

According to BILD, Lukeba is being gradually reintegrated into training after his groin problem, with full integration planned for next week. The club is hoping the French defender can return against Eintracht Frankfurt on October 10.

The timing is perfect for Demichelis and potentially decisive.

Leipzig have won their two Bundesliga games with Lukeba in the starting XI, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 and Hamburg 5-0 while keeping clean sheets. Their two league defeats, against Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen, came without him.

The numbers alone do not prove that Lukeba is responsible for the difference. But they point towards something tactically significant.

The Red Bulls' problem without Lukeba is not simply that they defend worse. They can become less capable of defending the way Demichelis wants them to.

A high defensive line requires aggressive ball-playing centre-backs who are quick and comfortable defending huge spaces behind them. Leipzig cannot aggressively press with their midfield and full-backs if the defenders behind them are constantly vulnerable to balls over the top or runners attacking the channels.

Lukeba changes that calculation.

His speed allows Leipzig to hold a higher line and gives the players ahead of him more freedom to attack the ball. Instead of dropping deeper whenever possession is lost, Leipzig can immediately try to suffocate the opponent again.

That is the foundation of the entire idea.

And it explains why Lukeba's absence can have consequences far beyond the centre-back position.

It affects the full-backs. It affects the midfielders. It affects how aggressively Leipzig can counter-press. Most importantly, it affects where Demichelis can position his entire team.

This is also why Leipzig were unwilling to gamble with Lukeba's fitness. BILD reports that the club chose not to rush him despite the demanding schedule ahead, with the defender instead working individually during his break before returning to gradual team training.

Demichelis now needs the gamble to pay off.

Leipzig have only six points from four Bundesliga matches, while the 1-4 defeat at Como has added another layer of pressure before a crucial run of fixtures.

Frankfurt is next.

Then PSV.

Then Bayern.

Demichelis does not merely need better results. He needs Leipzig to rediscover the defensive aggression that allows them to impose their football rather than react to their opponents.

Lukeba could be the player who makes that possible.

For Demichelis, his return is therefore not just good news.

It could determine whether Leipzig can actually play the football their coach is asking them to play.