RB Leipzig find themselves at a crossroads after a turbulent start to the 2026/27 season, with a morale-boosting 5-0 win over Hamburger SV on September 13 offering some relief following back-to-back defeats that had put serious pressure on coach Martin Demichelis. The Argentine had come under intense scrutiny after a 1-3 Bundesliga loss at Werder Bremen and a damaging 1-4 Champions League opener against Como 1907, with reports from Bild suggesting the water was already up to his neck. Sport director Marcel Schäfer publicly backed Demichelis, acknowledging the poor results while urging patience with a newly assembled squad. The heavy win over Hamburg steadied the ship, lifting Leipzig to fifth in the Bundesliga table with six points from three games, but the victory came at a cost. Midfielder Assan Ouedraogo, making his first Bundesliga start of the season, suffered what appeared to be a recurrence of his shoulder injury after just 35 minutes and was substituted before half-time. Demichelis confirmed the outlook was not positive, a significant blow given the 20-year-old's talent and his likely absence from Jürgen Klopp's first Germany squad. The road ahead offers little comfort. Leipzig travel to BayArena to face Bayer Leverkusen on September 20, a match that will test whether the Hamburg result represents a genuine turning point or merely a temporary reprieve for a side still searching for consistency.