Without glamour, but still largely confident, RB Leipzig entered the last 16 of the DFB Cup with a 1-0 win at fourth-division club SV Babelsberg 03.
Babelsberg coach Jörg Buder made two changes compared to the 1-1 draw against Lok Leipzig in the Regionalliga Nordost last Friday. Instead of Reimann and Jürgens (both on the bench), Gencel and Wilton started.
At RB Leipzig, Jesse Marsch rotated six times after the 4:1 against Fürth: For Gulacsi (not in the squad), Martinez was allowed to play again in the cup. In addition, Mukiele, Gvardiol, Haidara, Forsberg and Nkunku (all on the bench) were replaced by Simakan, Adams, Szoboszlai, Poulsen and Novoa. The 18-year-old Spaniard promptly scored his first goal on his Bundesliga debut at the weekend to become Leipzig’s youngest Bundesliga goalscorer.
Szoboszlai breaks the spell
After a good first few minutes from Babelsberg, Leipzig took control of the game as expected, but struggled to create clear-cut chances against the home side, who defended aggressively but mostly in a disciplined manner. Again and again, a defensive leg of the regional league champions was in the way or the Saxons lacked the final precision in their offensive play. Nevertheless, there were occasional chances: Henrichs aimed too high early on (9th). Poulsen failed in the 20th minute to beat Babelsberg’s keeper Theißen, who was also on guard against Novoa (29th).
Babelsberg only became dangerous once: When Martinez was too late against Müller in front of his penalty area, the latter could not benefit because he was pushed too far to the outside (16.). In the end, the Bundesliga side went into half-time with a lead thanks to a co-production between Poulsen and Szoboszlai, who – after the Dane had done the groundwork – finished through Theißen’s legs to make it 1-0 (45th).
Müller almost punishes Leipzig’s lack of chances
After the second half, the visitors, who had even more pace and a drive for goal, created chances every minute. Poulsen from close range, Szoboszlai and Henrichs missed the best of them (47th, 49th, 59th). But the second goal did not come in this phase, so that the first good scoring chance for Babelsberg in the 71st minute could have had consequences – but Müller only hit the outer net.
In the final phase, Joker Nkunku missed a great opportunity with a free header. The result remained close. But even with a second striker – Zille came on for Schmidt – Babelsberg were unable to seriously threaten the Saxons’ narrow lead in the end, despite a brief period of pressure.
The draw for the DFB Cup Round of 16 will take place on Sunday (from 6.30pm). Babelsberg will then also be in action again in the Regionalliga Nordost with a visit to Cottbus (1pm). Leipzig already plays on Saturday (3.30 p.m.) in Frankfurt.
