BERLIN – Defender El Chadaille Bitshiabu of Leipzig was unable to participate in his team’s Bundesliga match against Augsburg due to an issue with punctuality concerning the team bus.

Before the match ended in a goalless stalemate on Friday, Leipzig’s coach Marco Rose explained to broadcaster DAZN that the 19-year-old French player was expected to be part of the squad. However, he did not arrive in time to catch the bus to the airport earlier that day.

“Chad missed the departure this morning and therefore also the flight,” Rose revealed. “Thus, he couldn’t be there at the game.”

It is worth mentioning that Bitshiabu potentially had enough time to reach the match by taking a bus, considering Leipzig is about four hours away from Augsburg by road, and the game had a late start.

This season, Bitshiabu has participated in 11 league matches and was likely to play against Augsburg, particularly since team captain Willi Orban was serving a suspension following a red card received in the previous match against St. Pauli. Furthermore, multiple players, including Benjamin Henrichs, Xaver Schlager, Assan Ouedraogo, and Antonio Nusa, were sidelined due to injury, limiting the available options for Rose.

With players thin on the ground, Rose could only call upon six outfield players as substitutes, leaving one bench spot empty due to the lack of players.

In a noteworthy development, Kosta Nedeljkovi?, a Serbian right back, made his debut for Leipzig in the latter stages of the game.

As a result of the draw with Augsburg, Stuttgart had the opportunity to leapfrog Leipzig in the standings if they secured a victory at home against Wolfsburg the following day. This match would have critical implications for Champions League qualification, particularly for the coveted fourth place.