RB Leipzig have progress in the Champions League in their own hands. The reason for this is an impressive victory over defending champions Real Madrid.
The Saxons did not want to risk a defeat with a view to a place in the last 16. Compared to the 3:3 comeback in Augsburg, they started with Simakan, Haidara and Nkunku instead of Henrichs, Kampl and Poulsen (all on the bench) – and how. Forsberg was already dangerous in the first minute, RB Leipzig put defending champions Real under a lot of pressure.
The royals had already qualified for the knockout rounds and played the Rose team without the injured Benzema, Modric and Valverde and with an alternative four-man defence. Explanations for the differences in motivation and quality that were already noticeable in the opening phase. And which Leipzig knew how to exploit. After a corner and Courtois’ save from Silva, Gvardiol followed up with a header to give RB the lead (13th), which Nkunku extended a little later: the Frenchman chased a free ball in the penalty area tightly under the crossbar – 2:0 (18th)!
Real shorten and turn the game on its head
Only then did the sometimes lax Royals put more on the line. At first through typical longer passages of possession, with time they also lined up finishes. The first attempts by Rodrygo (35th) and Vinicius Junior (37th) were still too unplaced, before Szoboszlai had a good chance on the opposite side to make it 3-0 (42nd). Instead, it was only 2-1 at the break after Vinicius Junior’s well-placed header from the penalty spot (44th). Also not undeserved.
The visitors dictated the beginning of the second half, and now started to run higher. Tchouameni had a great chance to equalise after winning the ball high, but Schlager intervened in his own penalty area (53). At times, Real were already very dominant in a completely different game, RB only managed moments of relief rather than real pinpricks.
The defence holds – Joker Werner stings
For example, Orban against Vinicius Junior (65th, 67th) shone defensively at least, however, so that for a long time the Royals only had fairly bread-and-butter control of the game. The absence of Benzema in the attacking centre was of course noticeable.
The home side didn’t really put a foot on the ground offensively until Rose substituted the nimble Werner, among others. On the counterattack, the attacker beat Rüdiger but shot just wide of the far corner (71). In any case, Leipzig’s jokers made the game more open again.
Madrid were quite happy about that, and the next top-class chance came from the visitors. But Vinicius Junior shot just past the short corner (79.). Werner did better in the second attempt, even if he only had to push in after Simakan’s outstanding preparation – for the decision (81.). Rodrygo’s late penalty for the 2:3 did not change anything (90.+4).
So Leipzig beat the defending champions, who conceded their first defeat of the season in their 17th competitive match. Much more important for the Saxons: They have a place in the last 16 in their own hands next week.
RB continue in the Bundesliga on Saturday with a home game against Leverkusen (3.30pm) before taking on Donetsk next Tuesday night (6.45pm). Real then play Celtic in parallel.
