RB Leipzig’s strong support
Marco Rose got to the point with his characteristic nonchalance. “He also catches a lot of balls,” said RB Leipzig’s coach. The sentence, which could be classified as praise, was aimed at Janis Blaswich and marked the end of a completely positive testimonial on the completely rainy night in Belgrade. Previously, the “Red Bulls” had made it into the round of 16 of the Champions League for the first time for the first time thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win at Red Star – mainly thanks to Blaswich’s saves. Qualities that could also be useful for the national team?
When Belgrade pressed with all its might on the Leipzig goal, Blaswich was there with his reflexes. “Janis radiates calm and clarity and doesn’t allow herself to be bothered in any way,” said Rose. “He holds what he has to hold and sometimes one or two balls that he can hold. Of course it helps you to have that kind of support.”
Blaswich has had a fairytale rise. He had most of his appearances in the regional league, and in Leipzig he was supposed to be the easy number two behind Péter Gulácsi. When Hungary’s national goalkeeper suffered a torn cruciate ligament 13 months ago, Blaswich suddenly found himself in the spotlight and showed above-average performances. The reward was a contract extension until 2026. His previous record: He kept clean sheets 19 times in 52 games. So far this Bundesliga season he has five clean sheets in ten appearances, which puts him at the top of the ranking.
Blaswich maintains such a consistently high level that an invitation to the national team as number three would not be a big surprise. Especially since the 32-year-old impresses with more than performance. “He’s a completely calm guy, but he always wants to win and is very performance-oriented. He fits well in the dressing room and has a good standing there,” emphasized Rose about his protégé, who came to Saxony from Heracles Almelo in the summer of 2022 with a market value of 800,000 euros. After four upgrades in a row, he is now worth 4 million euros, making him the sixth most valuable German keeper who has never been called up for the DFB team.
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