Klopp smiles broadly as Leipzig defeats Werder Bremen 4-2 in Bundesliga

BERLIN (AP) — Jürgen Klopp watched with a broad smile as Leipzig defeated Werder Bremen 4-2 to reclaim fourth place in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Klopp, the former Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Mainz coach, took over his new duties as Red Bull’s head of global soccer on Jan. 1 and he took the first opportunity to see the energy drinks manufacturer’s German representative in competitive action.

Klopp can have had few complaints as he watched the 21-year-old Xavi Simons open the scoring and then cancel Mitchell Weiser’s response, before Benjamin Šeško, also 21, made it 3-1 with a brilliant strike from distance after the break.

Both Xavi and Šeško fit the profile of highly talented young players that Klopp will be expected to develop and attract to the growing Red Bull stable of clubs.

Leipzig substitute Christoph Baumgartner scored in the final minute before Bremen's Oliver Burke scored in stoppage time.

Klopp was in Paris on Saturday to see second-tier Paris FC beat Amiens 1-0. Among his tasks there is turning the club into one of France’s best under the ownership of the country’s richest family, the Arnaults of luxury empire LVMH. The family’s takeover of the second-tier club includes bringing Red Bull on board as a minority stakeholder.

Leipzig has struggled so far this season, losing all its games in the Champions League and dropping points in seven of its 16 games in the Bundesliga.

Germany forward Deniz Undav returned from injury to lead Stuttgart to a 1-0 win at Augsburg in the late game.

Undav had been out since Nov. 6 with a hamstring injury and then another muscular injury sustained in training. He went on as a substitute in the 61st minute in Augsburg and scored just four minutes later after being sent through by Angelo Stiller.

The win lifted Stuttgart – last season’s runner-up – to seventh in the 18-team division, one point above Borussia Dortmund.

Noahkai Banks, an 18-year-old American defender, made his Bundesliga debut for Augsburg when he replaced injured defender Maximilian Bauer in the 29th minute.

Bayern Munich leads defending champion Bayer Leverkusen by four points after 16 rounds, meaning it can’t be caught at the halfway stage, giving the Bavarian powerhouse the unofficial title of “Herbstmeister” or autumn champion.

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Stuttgart's Ermedin Demirovic, left, and Augsburg's Chrislain Matsima in action during the Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart at WWK-Arena, Augsburg, Germany, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Stuttgart's Atakan Karazor, left, and Augsburg's Samuel Essende in action during the Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart at WWK-Arena, Augsburg, Germany, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Stuttgart's Deniz Undav, center, celebrates scoring a goal, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart at WWK-Arena, Augsburg, Germany, Sunday Jan. 12, 2025. (Tom Weller/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Managing Director Sport, Jürgen Klopp, center, watches the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Lois Openda controls the ball, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Lukas Klostermann, right and Werder's Marvin Ducksch vie for the ball, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Antonio Nusa, right and Werder's Derrick Köhn vie for the ball, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Antonio Nusa, left and Werder's Derrick Köhn vie for the ball, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Xavi Simons celebrates after scoring a goal, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Leipzig's Xavi Simons celebrates after scoring a goal, during the German Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and SV Werder Bremen, in Leipzig, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Berkly Catton scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Seattle Kraken rallied from two goals down and beat the New York Rangers 4-2 on Monday night.

Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann also scored for the Kraken, and Philipp Grubauer had 19 saves. Seattle won for the ninth time in 12 games (9-1-2).

Mika Zibanejad and Sam Carrick scored for the Rangers, and Jonathan Quick finished with 25 saves. New York lost for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2) and fell to 5-12-4 at Madison Square Garden this season.

Catton gave the Kraken a 3-2 lead with 7:58 left in the third, knocking in a loose puck after his initial attempt was stopped by the right pad of a sprawled Quick down on the ice.

McCann added an empty-netter with 10 seconds remaining to seal the win.

Trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes, the Kraken tied it with two goals in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second period.

Frederick Gaudreau sent a backhand pass from the left side near the boards to Tolvanen in front, and settled the puck and beat Quick at the 1-minute mark.

Eberle tied it at 4:27 as he fired it past Quick from the high slot for his 16th of the season

Zibanejad scored for the Rangers 3:08 into the game. Grubauer deflected Zibanejad's initial shot wide and off the end board, and Zibanejad followed it and sent the rebound from behind the goal line back off the goalie and in for his 18th.

Carrick made it 2-0 less than 2 1/2 minutes later. After a turnover by the Kraken in the neutral zone back across the blue line, Carrick got the puck, skated into the left circle and beat Grubauer low on the blocker side.

Kraken: At New Jersey on Wednesday night in the third of a five-game trip.

Rangers: Host Ottawa on Wednesday night to finish a two-game homestand.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/NHL

Seattle Kraken's Cale Fleury (8) celebrates after his goal against the Vancouver Canucks with teammate Shane Wright (51) during the first period of an NHL game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)