Rotation against Young Boys
Farewell gift from Emil Forsberg: The Swedish playmaker scored RB Leipzig to victory in the meaningless final group game of the Champions League. Forsberg scored against BSC Young Boys in the 56th minute to make it 2-1 (0-0) and was celebrated by the 43,331 fans in what was probably his last “premier league” appearance. All that is missing is official confirmation of Forsberg’s move to New York, which should take place this week. Benjamin Sesko (51′) had previously scored for Leipzig and Ebrima Colley (53′) for Bern.
In terms of sport, everything was clear before kick-off. RB Leipzig was already safely in the round of 16 as second in Group G and the Swiss champions are continuing their international season in third place in the Europa League. The draw for the knockout round of the “premier class” will take place on Monday in Nyon.
Compared to the victory in Dortmund, coach Marco Rose changed his starting eleven to eight positions. The focus was on Péter Gulácsi, who was in goal in a home game for the first time since tearing his cruciate ligament in October 2022. The Hungarian international also led the team onto the field as captain.
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The stars and top scorers Loïs Openda and Xavi Simons were given a break and only came in the final quarter of an hour, when Forsberg said goodbye to lots of applause. In the attacking midfield, Liverpool loanee Fabio Carvalho was given a chance, while Christopher Lenz defended at the back left. In attack, the breakers Benjamin Sesko and Yussuf Poulsen were supposed to pose problems for the Bern defense around former Berliner Fabian Lustenberger.
This also worked in the early stages. After just six minutes, Forsberg fed Sesko, the Slovenian pirouetted around his opponent and pushed the ball into the far corner. However, the joy only lasted a good half a minute because Sesko was clearly offside.
After that, the level of play dropped dramatically. Bad passes, lack of ideas, coordination difficulties and fouls characterized the event. The visitors had the best chance to take the lead in the first half, almost inevitably from a set piece. After a corner from Filip Ugrinic (21′), Cheikh Niasse got the ball with the back of his head and Gulácsi prevented the deficit with a strong save.
Leipzig remained shockingly harmless up front and didn’t get a shot on goal in the first half. That changes after the break. Six minutes had passed again, Sesko scored again – this time it counted. The 20-year-old let his opponent out with a simple hook and hit the ball into the corner from close range. The spell was broken – also for Bern. Just two minutes later, Castello Lukeba let the ball slip through, Jean-Pierre Nsame broke through on the right wing and fed Colley in the middle.
Just three minutes later, Forsberg shot with his left and hit the far corner. In all likelihood it was his last goal in the Champions League for RB Leipzig. The 32-year-old’s winter move to the sister club in New York is reportedly a done deal. There, Forsberg, who has been playing in Leipzig since 2015, will receive the well-paid contract until 2027, which RB no longer wanted to give him.
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