RB Leipzig is lagging behind the top quartet in the Bundesliga. Record holders Real Madrid are in the Champions League round of 16 at just the right time, right? Coach Marco Rose exudes confidence and doesn’t yet believe in a Bellingham failure.
The opponent could hardly be bigger and the timing of the duel is anything but ideal from a form perspective. In the middle of the dip in results that has been going on for weeks, RB Leipzig has to find itself as an outsider this Tuesday evening (February 13th, 9 p.m. in the audio live stream and ticker in the SpiO app and on sport-im-osten.de) face European heavyweight Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
RB head coach Marco Rose sees the test of strength with the star ensemble as an opportunity. “We’re not afraid of anything at first,” said Rose at the press conference on Monday: “We’re looking forward to the opponent, the task, our stadium.” Real is “in exceptional shape in all areas,” but “we’re not that bad either.”
Bellingham failure? Rose still can’t believe it
The injury-related loss of Real top star Jude Bellingham is actually considered certain, but Marco Rose still has his doubts. “I only believe he will be out when he is not in the stadium. I know him. He will do everything to play a Champions League game,” said the 47-year-old. Rose trained the exceptional English talent at Borussia Dortmund in the 2021/22 season, and Bellingham left the Bundesliga for Madrid in the summer of 2023.
The still only 20-year-old suffered an ankle injury at the weekend during the La Liga leaders’ clear 4-0 win against their most stubborn rivals FC Girona. “I’ve read a lot, but you’ll see,” said Rose, who is enthusiastic about Bellingham’s development: “Jude is at the right club, he’s taken the right step. It doesn’t surprise me that he’s taken the route he has. He’s a Great boy with an incredible mentality and an incredible footballer who has taken steps forward.”
Many eyes will be on Dani Olmo, who comes from FC Barcelona’s youth team, on Tuesday.
Special game for Olmo and Xavi Simons
Rose herself is worried about the duel for Amadou Haidara. The defensive midfielder fell during 2:2 in Augsburg after the Africa Cup returnee struggled with slight knee problems. “Doudou has increased his training workload. He really wants to be there. We’ll wait for the final training,” said Rose.
Meanwhile, the upcoming two duels are once again a very special affair, especially for two RB professionals: Xavi Simons and Dani Olmo learned to play football in “La Masia”, the legendary squad factory of Real’s great rivals FC Barcelona. “I expect them to be different players,” said coach Marco Rose before the first game against the seemingly overpowering opponent from Spain.
World champion Toni Kroos and Real Madrid lost 3-2 at RB Leipzig in the Champions League group stage in October 2022.
Gulacsi remembers the home win in 2022
To date, the Royals and Leipzig have met twice. In the 2-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in September 2022, Madrid won late thanks to two strokes of genius by Fede Valverde and Marco Asensio. Olmo was missing due to a torn medial ligament in his knee. In the second leg in October 2022, the Spanish international was allowed to play as a joker from the 69th minute. At home, Leipzig did even better and won 3-2 – although the then defending champion Real had already qualified for the Champions League round of 16 early. This time it’s a knockout game. “If you’ve already done it once, then you know you can do it again. We want to play with such emotion and intensity again and achieve a good result,” emphasized RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
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