Martin Demichelis faces a skeleton squad at Cottaweg as injuries and international call-ups deplete the ranks ahead of a grueling gauntlet against Frankfurt, Bayern, and Real Madrid.
RB Leipzig returned to Cottaweg on Tuesday, but Martin Demichelis will have to wait before he can work with anything close to a full squad.
After a week away from team training, Leipzig have begun preparations for the Bundesliga's return, with Eintracht Frankfurt next on the schedule at the Red Bull Arena. PSV Eindhoven will then arrive in the Red Bull Arena for a Champions League fixture before a demanding run of matches continues into October.
The immediate problem is that Demichelis' squad has been dramatically reduced by the international break and a growing injury list.
Ten RB players have been called up by their national teams. David Raum and Ridle Baku are with Germany, Willi Orbán with Hungary, Nicolas Seiwald with Austria, Antonio Nusa and Ørjan Nyland with Norway, Maarten Vandevoordt with Belgium, Neil El Aynaoui with Morocco, Ezechiel Banzuzi with DR Congo, and Tidiam Gomis with France Under-21s. Leipzig themselves confirmed the group of 10 international absentees.
Five more players are unavailable through injury: Christoph Baumgartner, Brajan Gruda, Assan Ouédraogo, Rocco Reitz and Marc Guiu.
That leaves Demichelis with only 14 members of his 29-man first-team squad available for the next phase of preparations.
The timing is significant.
Leipzig has already experienced a difficult start to the season away from home, losing to Werder Bremen, Como and Bayer Leverkusen. The 0-2 defeat at Leverkusen came immediately before the international break, although the club had previously restored some momentum with a 5-0 victory over Hamburg.
The international break therefore provides Demichelis with a strange combination of time and limited resources.
Die Roten Bullen deliberately chose not to arrange a friendly during the break. Demichelis explained that a test match would make little sense given the number of players away with their countries and the club's injury situation. The focus instead is on training and preparing for what promises to be a demanding sequence once competitive football resumes.
There is also a particular emphasis on managing the squad. Assan Ouédraogo recently required surgery after suffering another shoulder dislocation, while Marc Guiu is expected to miss several weeks with a muscle injury. Gruda was also forced off against Leverkusen and subsequently withdrew from Germany duty.
When the international players eventually return, Leipzig will have little time to ease back into competition. Frankfurt visit on October 10, followed by PSV on October 13 and Bayern Munich four days later. Real Madrid then awaits in the Champions League on October 21.
For now, however, Cottaweg is operating at reduced capacity.
Leipzig has 29 first-team players on its books. Ten are away representing their countries, and five are injured.
Demichelis has just 14 to work with.
The quiet training ground will not last long. Once the internationals return, the schedule will become anything but quiet.
