RB Leipzig dismissed Ole Werner despite qualifying for the Champions League
RB Leipzig confirmed on June 17, 2026, that Ole Werner is no longer the head coach of the first team, even though the club finished third in the recently completed Bundesliga season and secured participation in the Champions League. The decision surprised the German football public because Werner arrived in Leipzig only last summer, signed a contract until 2027, and achieved the club's main sporting objective in his first season. According to RB Leipzig's official announcement, Werner's assistants Tom Cichon and Patrick Kohlmann have also been relieved of their duties, while the club will announce at a later date what the new coaching staff will look like. Bundesliga.com, citing the club announcement, states that sporting director and board member for sport Marcel Schäfer informed the coach and his staff of the decision on Wednesday. With that, Leipzig opened one of the most unexpected coaching questions of this summer in German football.
The club referred to the final analysis of the season
According to RB Leipzig's statement, the decision was made after the final analysis of the 2025/26 season, which the club's management carried out in the days following the end of the competitive period. Marcel Schäfer stated, according to the club announcement reported by Bundesliga.com, that the season had once again been analyzed intensively and that on Tuesday evening a decision was made on a new solution for the position of head coach. In the same statement, he thanked Werner, Cichon and Kohlmann for their work and contribution, emphasizing that they had played a major part in the successful transformation of the team and the return to the Champions League. At the same time, he added that the club had reached the conviction that the upcoming challenges require substantive development and a different approach. Such wording shows that the decision was not based solely on a failure of results, but on an assessment of the direction in which the leadership wants to develop the team.
That is precisely why the dismissal carries particular weight. Werner was not dismissed after a drop in form that would have endangered the club's minimum ambitions, but after a season in which Leipzig once again became a participant in Europe's strongest club competition. According to Bundesliga data, Werner led Leipzig in 38 official matches, while the team finished third in the league and reached the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal. Kicker, in its coaching profile for the 2025/26 season, records that RB Leipzig achieved 20 wins, five draws and nine defeats in 34 Bundesliga matches under Werner. Sport Bild also states that the figure of 20 league victories equalled the club record in a single Bundesliga season, which further explains why the decision was received as a surprise.
From Werder to Leipzig: a short tenure with high expectations
Werner was officially appointed to the RB Leipzig bench on June 24, 2025, when the club announced that the 37-year-old coach was arriving from Werder Bremen and signing a contract until 2027. In the announcement of his arrival, RB Leipzig highlighted his developmental profile, his experience of working with teams undergoing change, and the fact that he had led Werder in 128 official matches. Werner worked in Bremen from November 2021 to May 2025, and before that he made his name at Holstein Kiel, where he built a reputation as a coach capable of organizing a team with a clear identity and an emphasis on intensity. He came to Leipzig after a period in which the club was seeking stability and new momentum, so his appointment was presented as a medium-term solution, not as a short-term experiment.
Werner's first season in Leipzig began in the context of significant personnel changes. RB Leipzig, in its own final analysis of the season published at the end of May, emphasized that the team had gone through a major restructuring with twelve new players and an even larger number of departures. In such circumstances, finishing among the top three teams in the Bundesliga and returning to the Champions League could have been interpreted as confirmation of stabilization. The club, however, concluded that it needed a different coaching impulse for the next phase. That difference between the result achieved and the internal assessment of the team's development is the central reason why Werner's dismissal stands apart from ordinary coaching changes in the Bundesliga.
The result was not enough to continue the cooperation
Third place in the Bundesliga usually represents a strong argument for continuity, especially when the sporting importance of the Champions League is taken into account. Participation in that competition brings a greater international profile, stronger sporting visibility and a better position in squad planning. For Leipzig, a club that in recent years has regularly emphasized the ambition of having a permanent place at the European top level, the return to the Champions League was important both symbolically and commercially. According to the club's explanation, however, qualification itself was not enough to continue with the same coaching model. In that sense, the decision shows the high level of expectations in Leipzig, but also the leadership's willingness to change course even after a season successful in terms of results.
Such a move also carries a certain risk. The new coach, whoever is appointed, will take over a team that must prepare for a more demanding schedule, domestic competition and the Champions League. In addition to sporting continuity, questions remain open regarding preparations, transfers and the roles of individual players in a system that has yet to be defined. RB Leipzig announced in its statement that it would inform the public in due time about the successor to the position of head coach, the composition of the new coaching staff and the possible continuation of cooperation with assistant coach Jan Zimmermann. Until the official announcement, all information about the names of potential candidates remains in the realm of media reports.
Demichelis is mentioned as a possible successor
Sky Sport reported on June 17 that Werner's successor should be Martín Demichelis, the Argentine coach and former Bayern footballer, who was most recently linked with RCD Mallorca. According to Sky Sport's information, Leipzig is ready to activate a release clause of 2.5 million euros, and the contract should be signed in the short term. RB Leipzig did not confirm this information at the time of the club announcement, so it should be viewed as a media report, not as an official appointment. If that outcome is confirmed, it would be Demichelis's first independent coaching job in the Bundesliga, a competition in which he left a significant mark as a player.
Demichelis's name fits into Leipzig's broader pattern, as the club often chooses coaches associated with player development, more aggressive football and a clear tactical idea. But every change at this stage of preparations brings pressure, especially because the new coach will be expected not only to retain a place near the top of the Bundesliga but also to be competitive in Europe. Leipzig, under Werner, had already gone through a significant squad and changes in the roles of individual players, so every new coaching staff will have to quickly assess what should be retained and what should be changed. For that reason, the appointment of a successor will be the first important signal of what kind of football and organizational structure the club wants in the 2026/27 season.
What the dismissal says about RB Leipzig's ambitions
Over the last decade, RB Leipzig has established itself as a club that reacts quickly to deviations from its own plans, and Werner's dismissal confirms that at the top of the club, the sporting result is viewed together with the long-term assessment of the game, development and market strategy. In that context, third place and the Champions League did not automatically close the question of the coaching future. Schäfer's statement suggests that the board assessed that the team needs to change its way of working and further develop the substance of its game. That is an important message to the players, but also to the market, because it shows that Leipzig wants to continue building the team according to clearly defined internal criteria, even when the external result appears successful.
On the other hand, Werner's position in this case remains specific because he is leaving with achievements that in many clubs would have formed the basis for extending trust. His work brought a return to the elite European competition, stabilization after changes in the squad and a competitive output that returned Leipzig among the leading Bundesliga teams. According to the available official information, the club did not cite disciplinary reasons nor publicly present a specific sporting incident that would have led to the termination of the cooperation. Instead, the decision was presented as a strategic assessment after analysis. Such an explanation leaves room for different interpretations, but also clearly confirms that the bar of expectations in Leipzig is set very high.
For Werner, the dismissal after only one season in Leipzig does not erase the fact that in a short period he achieved a result worthy of the Champions League. His next step will be particularly interesting on the German coaching market, because he is a specialist who has already worked in different circumstances, from development in Kiel to the stabilization of Werder and a short but results-wise successful period in Leipzig. For RB Leipzig, a period now begins in which it will have to show that the decision to make a change was more than a search for a new name. In a season that brings a return to the Champions League, the new coach will not inherit a team in crisis, but a team from which the next step forward is expected.
Sources:
- RB Leipzig – official announcement on parting ways with head coach Ole Werner (link)
- Bundesliga.com – report on the dismissal, Marcel Schäfer's statement and data on Werner's performance in Leipzig (link)
- RB Leipzig – official announcement on the appointment of Ole Werner in June 2025 and contract details (link)
- Kicker – coaching profile of Ole Werner and statistics of appearances in the Bundesliga 2025/26 (link)
- Sky Sport – report on a possible successor and claims regarding Martin Demichelis (link)
- Sport Bild – report on the context of the dismissal, the contract until 2027 and the figure of 20 league victories (link)