Training sessions against his managers and former Manchester City players Vincent Kompany and Martin Demichelis showed RB Leipzig defender Maxime Estève the competitive standards required to play Champions League football and he’ll take those lessons into his next challenge: Stopping Erling Haaland on Wednesday.
Centre back Estève, 24, joined Bundesliga side RB Leipzig from Burnley for €25 million in the summer. He’s played for his new side in the German topflight, but Estève is still waiting for his Champions League debut, and he is hoping that could come against Manchester City at the Etihad on Wednesday.
If he gets the nod against City, then his primary challenge will be to stop City star Haaland, who already has 13 goals in all competitions this season. Estève already has first-hand experience of playing Haaland from his time with Burnley, where he played from 2024 to 2026.
“I played twice against him and he’s the best striker in the world at this point along with Harry Kane,” Estève told reporters on Monday. “In a few years’ time he’ll still be in this position: he’s so powerful, so good at heading, so quick, and he has all the qualities to be a beast. But to progress in football, you must play against the best opponents so it’s a good challenge to play against these opponents and types of players.”
Estève says Haaland’s patience and movement makes him hard to mark. “I remember when I played against him, he waits, and they have other players like Rayan Cherki who play in the small spaces, so he tries to stay around but they have their habits. They can chip the ball to the far post, and he can come in aggressively with a big header.
“He’s not that active with the ball, but every time he does touch the ball, you have to be focused 100% because, you know, in one second, he can score. He’s a difficult player to mark.
“He’s a really good finisher and he adapts his game the whole time. So for me, he’s the best striker I’ve played against.”
If Estève wants any advice on what it takes to tame the world’s greatest strikers, then he can take inspiration from managers he’s played under. Estève signed for Burnley in February 2024 on loan and worked under ex-City great Kompany for the remainer of the 2024-25 season.
That summer, Kompany left to take charge of Bayern Munich but Estève signed a permanent deal and stayed at Burnley for a further two seasons before joining Leipzig in July 2026. There he has ex-Argentina center back Demichelis as manager, after the Argentinean defender took over in June.
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Esteve has taken plenty of inspiration from both, but it was the standards they set in training even as coaches which left an impression on him.
“They both have big histories in football, and you can see how serious they take it in the gym,” Estève said. “They play games in training, and you can see they are competitive. They don’t want to lose. They are both young coaches and still have so much energy.
“They are always early into training and leave really late. They are perfectionists but even in small games in training, you can see they are still hungry.” Estève says both like to play with intensity, and it’s under Demichelis where he’s adapting to Bundesliga life.
It’s been a steady start at Leipzig with Estève playing four times in the German top flight but he has been an unused substitute in all three of their Champions League games to date.
He says it’s long been an aspiration of his to play at the top tier of European football and he hopes that chance will come on Wednesday in Manchester.
“It was my dream when I was young: to play in the Premier League, to play Champions League football and to play for the national team.
“I just have to work hard, wait for my chance and try to be the best as I can. I received a little knock against Elversberg so I missed the last two games, but for this game, I should be okay. I just have to wait for my chance. I’m really happy at the club, with the team and with the coach. Whenever the coach needs me, I’ll be 100% ready.”
On a personal note, Estève will also look to lay some ghosts to rest if he faces City, as they last time he played them at the Etihad while at Burnley, he scored two own goals in their 5-1 defeat back in September 2025.
“After the game [Burnley manager] Scott Parker said to me ‘Max, this is nothing. This is really, really nothing. It’s something that can happen to anybody.’ My teammates came to me and said ‘Max, this is nothing.’ It wasn’t my final game in football, and it was just a bad memory.
“But at Leipzig, look, the objective of the club is to get through to the next stage of the Champions League. We take it game by game and there are no easy games. And in Bundesliga the objective of the club is to qualify to the Champions League every season because it’s big club with big expectations and a big fanbase as well.”
