Julian Nagelsmann, RB Leipzig's innovative coach, faces a brush with his Augsburg past in the Friday Bundesliga game (2:20 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+), the prelude to a huge Champions League week for the club. ESPN's Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae believes Leipzig have a chance to become the second-force in German football.
That Julian Nagelsmann, at 33 years old, has ascended to the upper slopes of world football's coaching mountain is nothing short of remarkable. The story began in the foothills of Landsberg am Lech, his home community a short drive from Augsburg.