Leipzig lost the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 0:1 against Real Madrid. An avoidable defeat, as RB had a number of good chances – and struggled with an early wrong decision
The game started seemingly perfectly for Leipzig, as Sesko headed in after just three minutes. But the flag was up, offside. It wasn’t about the goalscorer, who was clearly not offside, but rather Henrichs. He was offside and had obstructed goalkeeper Lunin in the eyes of the referees. A wrong decision, as the Leipzig player had done nothing punishable.
An annoying start for RB, who did not let this throw them off course and simply carried on: Sesko first failed to beat Lunin (10th) and ten minutes later put the ball into the side netting. Real initially stood compactly and waited for counter-attacks, which initially did not work at all. Overall, it was not the Whites’ first half and they were hardly dangerous in attack. However, after a good first 20 minutes, the Bundesliga side also failed to create any more opportunities as the game wore on. As a result, the teams went into the half-time break goalless.
Dream goal from Brahim Diaz
That was the end of the home side’s final offensive and they were lucky that Joselu did not make it 2-0 at the very end (90+4). The result was a 1-0 defeat for Rose’s side, who will face Borussia Mönchengladbach again on Saturday evening in the Bundesliga’s top match (6.30pm). The following day, Madrid host “small” city rivals Rayo Vallecano (2 p.m.). The second leg will take place at the Bernabeu on March 6 (9 p.m.).
