FORMER Celtic defender Andreas Hinkel has been axed as assistant boss of Champions League rivals RB Leipzig.
The Bundesliga club reacted swiftly to their shock 4-1 loss at home to Shakhtar Donetsk – with ex-Hoops flop Marian Shved netting a double – by sacking the ex-Hoops star along with head coach Domenico Tedesco.
Ange Postecoglou’s side are scheduled for a Group F double-header against the German outfit next month, with the first game away on October 5 and the return six days later at Parkhead.
Tedesco watched in anguish as his side collapsed feebly in Leipzig with Shved on target twice before the hour mark. He was axed along with Hinkel and another backroom staff member first thing this morning.
SHAKHTAR CELEBRATIONS…two-goal ex-Celt Marian Shved (extreme left) celebrates with his team-mates after the Ukrainian club’s 4-1 win in Leipzig that brought the axe for Andreas Hinkel.
A club statement read: “RB Leipzig have parted company with Domenico Tedesco with immediate effect. Assistant coaches Andreas Hinkel and Max Urwantschky have also left the club. RB Leipzig will announce his successor in due course.”
Tedesco had already been under siege at the club following last season’s Europa League semi-final defeat against Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox outfit. They were a goal ahead from the first leg, but nosedived 3-1 in Glasgow.
Right-back Hinkel was a popular player at Parkhead after arriving on a £1.9million switch from Sevilla in January 2008. He made 100 appearances before leaving in October 2011 for SC Freiburg.
He also had spells as assistant boss at Stuttgart and Spartak Moscow before hooking up with Tedesco at Leipzig in June last year.
Celtic are due to face Shved and Co in Warsaw a week tonight in the second game in their section.
