Bayer Leverkusen gave up a victory in an unusually emotionally charged duel at RB Leipzig. The special thing: three of the four goals were preceded by extremely heated duels and a scuffle. In focus: Florian Wirtz, Willy Orban and David Raum.
Leverkusen took the lead after two impressive preparations by Florian Wirtz through Patrik Schick (18th) and Aleix Garcia (36th), and David Raum scored the next goal before the break (41st). The game initially petered out in the second half – only to really pick up speed again in the final phase. Because in the 85th minute, the VAR had to intervene after an offside decision by referee Bastian Dankert – and overturned it. Leipzig celebrated because the goal that followed the supposed effort was a regular goal; Edmond Tapsoba had unfortunately headed the ball into his own goal. The game ended 2:2 (1:2).
Verbal skirmishes really get Wirtz hot
Leipzig captain Willy Orban might have learned something important in the game against Leverkusen: ‘You better not mess with Florian Wirtz!’ After a lengthy verbal skirmish with the Leverkusen artist, in which the opponents repeatedly leaned their foreheads against each other like musk oxen, Wirtz resolved the conflict in his own way.
The exceptional player picked up speed on the left side, first making Orban look like an amateur defender, dancing past two more Leipzig players on the five-man boundary and finishing with the pick. The ball hit the right post and from there to the feet of Patrik Schick, who just had to dust himself off. But instead of cheering and celebrating with his colleagues, Wirtz looked for Orban’s look – the reason for this is easy to imagine: one could interpret it as “satisfaction”.
Wirtz remains the focus
The preparation for the second goal was also all about Wirtz: his perfect solo on the right side brought the ball to Garcia, who deliberately shot it in low on the right. In fact, Leipzig protested violently against the recognition – because of Wirtz. He fought to get the ball out of space, but stepped on the opponent’s shin while he was lying on the ground. As Raum writhed on the ground and called for medical attention, the gate fell. The referees continued to recognize the goal.
Anger can move at speeds of 120 km/h
But like Wirtz, Raum was now really getting going. After a tactical foul by Robert Andrich, left-back Raum placed the ball around 21 meters slightly to the right of center, tensed his body and took the shot: At 120 km/h, the ball, slightly deflected, hit under the crossbar of the Leverkusen goal, Keeper Lukas Hradecky had no chance to intervene.
Leipzig with a lot of luck – two posts
And Wirtz was in the spotlight two more times before and then later in the second half, in which the game had calmed down significantly both playfully and emotionally: first Lukas Klostermann had to be played out on the right side (29th), later Wirtz came down the left side (64′). The national player shot both times, but only hit the post because Leipzig keeper Peter Gulacsi got a hand on the ball and directed the ball towards the goal frame. It was Wirtz’s first and third post hits in this game.
Final phase: Good entertainment for the audience
The game remained exciting. And RB had to take another deep breath when ex-Leipzig player Nordi Mukiele chipped the ball onto the left post, but Piero Hincapie narrowly missed it.
Leipzig didn’t give up and almost got rewarded – and again space would have been involved: one of his corners from the right side was found by Benjamin Sesko, who was able to control the ball but was denied by Hradecky with his shot (70′). . Later, on the other side, Jeremy Frimpong was unsuccessful when he finished too early and the ball went well over the Leipzig crossbar.
Endless spectacle
But the spectators in Leipzig got a lot more for their admission price: The following offside decision was overturned because it was not Baumgartner who hit the goal, but Leverkusen defender Tapsoba.
And even more cheers erupted when Gulacsi prevented Wirtz from scoring in the final minute: the Leverkusen player had run towards the goalkeeper alone, but was denied for the third time that afternoon by the extremely strong Hungarian national goalkeeper.
Difficult league tasks after the Champions League
The next Bundesliga task after the Champions League intermezzo during the week is a tough one for RB Leipzig: On Saturday (February 1, 2025) they go to Union Berlin (6:30 p.m.). Leverkusen welcomes TSG Hoffenheim the next day at 5:30 p.m.