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RB Leipzig ready to test mettle as trio of tough fixtures approach

FABRIZIO BENSCH / Reuters

Berlin - RB Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhuttl admits his young side faces a test of its mettle as a legitimate Bundesliga title challenger with three tough matches, starting on Saturday.

Leipzig is second only to Bayern Munich in Germany's top flight with the league resuming this weekend after a four-week winter break.

But RB Leipzig now hosts fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, then Hoffenheim, the only Bundesliga team still unbeaten this season, before playing Borussia Dortmund away.

All three teams are in the top six and Dortmund has not lost in the league at home since April 2015.

Leipzig, who is in its first season in Germany's top flight, kept Bayern from the top of the Bundesliga table for three weeks until mid-December.

Hasenhuttl says his side will bounce back from a 3-0 trouncing at Bayern before Christmas and can challenge the Bavarian side's stranglehold on the league title since 2012.

"If anybody thinks we'll put on less pressure, then they are kidding themselves," Hasenhuttl told reporters on Friday.

"We have the ambition to be top even the way things have gone so far this season."

And what a season it has been so far for RB Leipzig, a team that was only founded in 2009.

The club started with a 13-game unbeaten run, a record for a team in its first Bundesliga season, beating Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen, and Hamburg in the process.

But Hasenhuttl admits the club now faces the supreme test against high-flying Frankfurt, Hoffenheim and Dortmund, who all want to claim second place.

"These are three real crackers. This isn't the time to curl up in a ball, but to put the foot to the floor," he said.

"This is the phase where we will discover just how good we are and what level we are at."

RB Leipzig is backed by energy drink giant Red Bull, whose co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz has set the minimum goal of Europa League qualification - which means finishing sixth.

Leipzig enjoys a six-point cushion over third-placed Hertha Berlin, but a Champions League place beckons if the club can maintain the form which saw it lose just two of its 16 games so far.

Hasenhuttl knows the team has lost the element of surprise and future opponents will not take them lightly.

"It's clear that we do not want to give up our place without a fight, but I can not say what will happen at the end of the season," Hasenhuttl told magazine Der Spiegel.

"In all honesty, it will be harder than easier from now on, but we have no fear."

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