San Sebastián (AP) – Coach Domenico Tedesco clapped his hands vigorously, his grinning players congratulated each other. Despite a few minutes of trepidation, runners-up RB Leipzig ultimately made it through to the round of 16 in the Europa League.
The Tedesco team won the second leg of the second round against hosts Real Sociedad San Sebastián, who had been frighteningly harmless for a long time, 3-1 (1-0). “It was decent from the first minute, but we should have scored more goals in the first half. It was very mature to survive here,” said defender Willi Orban, who was fourth in the Bundesliga table after André Silva missed a penalty (39th minute) had brought the lead.
After just under an hour, Silva (59th) scored himself in front of around 35,000 spectators at the Estadio Anoeta. Martin Zubimendi (67th) provided excitement for a short time. “The fans really pushed Sociedad forward,” said Tedesco at this stage. But substitute Emil Forsberg (89th), who had scored from the penalty spot in the 2-2 first leg a week earlier after being substituted on, made the decision with a converted hand penalty. “It got a bit heated again, but we stayed cool,” said midfielder Konrad Laimer.
Leipzig decided almost at will
RB had to attribute the shaking minutes to himself. Tedesco’s team, who had changed five positions compared to 6-1 last Sunday, struggled to score goals this time.
RB determined what happened on the pitch in San Sebastián almost at will. The home fans, to whom captain Mikel Oyarzabal appealed again after the league defeat in the Baskenderby at the weekend (0:4 at Athletic Bilbao), were sometimes silent. RB did not allow mood lifters for a long time.
Instead, the guests quickly became dangerous: In the fourth minute, however, Lukas Klostermann failed at Mathew Ryan. A good five minutes later, the Australian cleared the Spaniards’ goal against Kevin Kampl. Both were among the fresh forces in the RB team. The third big chance was missed by the later goalscorer Orban (19th) against Ryan.
After a great pass from Dani Olmo, the 29-year-old goalkeeper – actually number two – came out of his box too late and knocked Christopher Nkunku off his feet in the six-yard box. André Silva stepped up under the whistles of the Real fans. And he missed, Ryan dived into the right corner of the goalkeeper – unfortunately he let the ball bounce off in such a way that it rolled diagonally in front of the goal. Orban sprinted on and away from everyone and scored to make it 1-0.
Unnecessary stress in the final phase
The lead was well deserved, just not enough with 11:1 degrees in the entire first half from Leipzig’s point of view. “We control the game and are good in all phases. Good standards, play well at the back, good switching moments, but the goals are missing,” said RB Leipzig’s technical director, Christopher Vivell, at the RTL + station during the break.
The game didn’t change much after the break. Despite being behind, the Spaniards still looked quite restrained. In any case, it could be all right for the people of Leipzig. They continued to threaten Olmo in the 55th minute with a long-range shot that Ryan cleared for a corner. The home keeper was powerless when Silva scored a goal from 15 meters into the corner.
But then the Spaniards suddenly scored a goal, recognized by the video referee after much trepidation. And RB suddenly found themselves exposed to unnecessary stress in the final stages three days before the league game at VfL Bochum, but thanks to the converted Forsberg penalty, they could look forward to the draw this Friday.