5 things on Zsolt Lőw | OneFootball

Zsolt Lőw: 5 things on the new RB Leipzig coach

Zsolt Lőw has been parachuted in to get RB Leipzig's season back on track after the dismissal of Marco Rose. An assistant coach for most of his career, who is the Hungarian stepping out of the shadows?

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Data correct as of 31 March 2025

1) Both sides of the white line

Before transitioning into the coaching world, Lőw was a player himself, making 47 Bundesliga appearances spread between Energie Cottbus, Hoffenheim and Mainz. Those top-tier games were earnt through promotion-winning campaigns in Bundesliga 2 with the latter two, for whom he made a combined 51 appearances in the division; the remainder of his 100 second-tier matches came for Cottbus and Hansa Rostock. In his time at Mainz, he played under former Borussia Dortmund and current England boss Thomas Tuchel, and alongside former Union Berlin and 05ers coach Bo Svensson.

Zsolt Lőw made 245 professional appearances over a 13-year career. (Thorsten Wagner)

2) Taking the plunge

Since his retirement from football in 2011, Lőw has been an assistant coach at six different clubs across four different countries. However, since beginning his coaching career in 2012, the former Hungary international has not yet held the position of head coach, making this is first time in the managerial hotseat.

In just his third job in coaching, Lőw was assistant to Ralf Rangnick before Leipzig made the jump to the Bundesliga, where Ralph Hasenhüttl was in charge. (Christian Schroedter)

3) The apprentice becomes the master … and opponent

His time as an assistant coach has seen him learn from the very best, however. In his first stint as a coach at Leipzig between 2015 and 2018, Lőw was second in command to the none other than the proclaimed 'godfather of German football' Ralf Rangnick, who also coached him in his time at Hoffenheim, and then Ralph Hasenhüttl as they finished second in their first-ever Bundesliga season in 2016/17. He then became number two to his former boss Tuchel, following him to Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

Lőw will face of against Hasenhüttl as a head coach for the first time when his Leipzig side travel to Wolfsburg on Matchday 29, where the Austrian's team will look to gain ground on Die Roten Bullen in their quest to return to European competition.

4) Familiar foes

While being a head coach is unfamiliar to Lőw, some of his Bundesliga adversaries will not be. Aside from his stint as Hasenhüttl’s assistant at Leipzig, he also ran into some other current Bundesliga managers as a player.

In his time at Hoffenheim he played alongside a young Sebastian Hoeneß, now head coach at VfB Stuttgart, and his international debut for Hungary came against a Croatia side including current Borussia Dortmund boss Niko Kovač, who scored the second in a 2-0 win for his country. In another interesting bit of trivia, Lőw’s first Bundesliga appearance for Cottbus in 2002 came against Bayer Leverkusen, then managed by Klaus Toppmöller, father of current Eintracht Frankfurt boss, Dino.

5) Taste for success

In his time learning his trade as an assistant, Lőw will have picked up plenty of recipes for success. While working alongside Tuchel, he collected eight major honours, including the UEFA Champions League in the 2020/21 season with Chelsea. Across their time at Bayern and PSG, the duo picked up three league titles and four domestic cups.

During his early coaching days in Austria, where he was assistant to former Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach boss Adi Hütter at Red Bull Salzburg, Lőw was involved in an Austrian league and cup win.

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