The guests from the Bundesliga narrowly missed out on the big coup at the “Royal”. Leipzig dominates the game at times – but then an old friend from the Bundesliga does magic.
Fought, worked, hoped – and in the end was eliminated: RB Leipzig was eliminated from the Champions League despite a strong performance in the second leg of the round of 16 at Real Madrid. A 1:1 (0:0) with the “Royal” was not enough to advance to the quarter-finals after the 0:1 in the first leg at home.
Willi Orbán (68th) equalized Vinícius Júnior’s opening goal (65th), previously the former Dortmund Jew Bellingham had prepared the Brazilian’s goal with a stroke of genius. Despite numerous chances and visual superiority over long stretches of the game, the Saxons were unable to score a second goal.
For coach Marco Rose’s team, the rest of the season is now just about qualifying for the lucrative Champions League again – in fifth place, the Saxons are lurking one point behind Borussia Dortmund. With Rio world champion Toni Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger, Real are still aiming for their 15th premier class title and have made it to the last eight for the fourth time in a row.
This is how the game went:
After the unfortunate defeat in the first leg, including refereeing bad luck and goal theft, Rose announced a courageous appearance and “no backing down” at the Bernabeu – and his team followed suit. The Leipzig team didn’t hide at all at the beginning and quickly switched gears whenever they won the ball.
Loïs Openda had Leipzig’s first chances, the goalscorer missed a shot from a good position miserably (12th), then just a little later (15th). In particular, playmaker Dani Olmo distributed the ball well in Leipzig’s offensive game; Real didn’t seem to be solid defensively in the early stages.
As a result, the Royal team got a little more calm in their actions, Kroos directed the Madrilenians’ game with his usual confidence. However, there were initially no great chances for the hosts, RB stood compactly and waited for a counterattack. The game noticeably slowed down, Real risked little and slowed down the pace.
Real lost his nerve
But RB increased the pressure shortly before the break, Xavi Simons failed with a shot past Real keeper Andrij Lunin (41′) – after the subsequent corner, Openda shot just wide of the goal (42′). The guests’ belief in the sensation grew, and the home fans in the Bernabeu saw off their team with whistles into the dressing room.
Even after the break, Leipzig were the more active team, often lacking precision with the last pass. Real slowly lost their nerve, Vinicius Junior was lucky to get away with a yellow card when he grabbed Willi Orban’s neck (54′).
The game remained open, and Leipzig’s Peter Gulacsi parried a shot from substitute Rodrygo in the near corner (63′). Vinicius did better a little later on a counterattack and after a pass from Jude Bellingham. But RB’s hope returned after Orban’s goal. Dani Olmo (90.+2) narrowly missed the late equalizer with a lob against the crossbar.