After a strong performance in the 1:1 draw at Real Madrid (first leg 0:1), RB Leipzig were eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League. Once again, the Saxons had to contend with a refereeing decision. But not only with this …
“The performance in both games was good. It’s very bitter,” said Willi Orban on DAZN after the draw in Madrid. His team-mate Benjamin Henrichs took a similar view and asked rhetorically: “Again, I don’t know how they scored again today? We’re still lacking that, we played a great first half. If you put the 180 minutes together, we had the better chances than Real. “
“When one of our players plays against one of Real’s… “
After the stale aftertaste from the first leg, when Benjamin Sesko’s early opening goal was disallowed due to an alleged active offside by the same Henrichs, the Saxons were once again at odds with a refereeing decision at the Bernabeu Stadium. “From my point of view, that was a clear grab to the neck, you can give a red,” said Orban, who was first brought down by Vinicius Junior in the 54th minute after a kick to the legs and was then pushed quite violently in the neck area by the Brazilian.
“What can I say? I strongly assume that if one of our players hits one of Real’s players in the neck like that, there will be a red,” said Henrichs, sensing unequal treatment in favor of the top teams: “You saw that in the first leg when our first goal didn’t count. And also against Man City,” said the right-back. Vinicius Junior then scored the decisive goal in the duel with the Whites a good ten minutes after the scene with Orban. Orban’s equalizer was no longer enough for extra time
Henrichs after wasting chances: “We must not get knocked out “
“It’s bitter because he couldn’t have been on the pitch,” said Henrichs. Neither he nor his captain blamed Leipzig’s unfavorable refereeing decisions for their elimination – on the contrary. “In both games, the referees weren’t in our favor, but we had a lot of chances, so we have to look at our own noses,” said Orban, who immediately started with himself and Vinicius Junior’s 1-0 for Madrid, in which the exceptional striker was free to finish in the center: “I speculated on an outside pass, then the way inside was clear. He’s also a world-class player, of course. “
This was also the view of Henrichs, who added: “As many goalscoring chances as we had, we mustn’t get caught out.” Nevertheless, the right-back was also able to take positives from the game. “You could see that you can keep up. And I can’t remember the last time someone played so well here and was whistled against their own team,” said Henrichs, alluding to the fact that Real were whistled off at the break and the atmosphere at the Bernabeu was far from cheerful after the 1-1 draw. Nevertheless, he was “brutally disappointed” at the end
