“If we finish fifth or sixth in the table that would be disappointing for everyone,” he told Wednesday’s edition of the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung daily.

However, the 33-year old admitted it will be a great challenge for his young team to put up a fight for the title.

“You can have performance gaps when you deal with a young squad. Some points will be lost and it will be difficult to reach the top,” Nagelsmann explained.

He also pointed out it takes time to develop a team with such potential, while clubs like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund can already rely on experienced players.

“With all due respect Robert Lewandowski doesn’t really need to train anymore. He can do everything. He should only train to be fresh and hyped for the weekend,” Nagelsmann said about Bayern’s top scorer.

Leipzig finished third in the past Bundesliga season, after leading at the half-way mark, and reached the Champions League semi-finals.

The eastern Germans, who lost their top scorer Timo Werner to Chelsea, start the league season on Sunday at home against Mainz.