Away win? Unlikely. For many, the only thing that remains to be seen before the game between ManCity and RB is how clearly Leipzig will go down. Manchester’s dip in results doesn’t change that.
RB Leipzig goes into the Champions League second leg at Manchester City on Tuesday evening (live ticker and audio report from 8:45 p.m.) with at best outsider chances. England’s champions are currently suffering from a small crisis in results after two draws in the Premier League, but that was already the case before the 3-1 win in the first leg. And in their own stadium, ManCity is even more dominant. The RB could or had to experience it first hand twice, coming under the English wheels with 3:6 in 2021 and 0:7 in March of this year.
Check it out and do it better
At RB, however, the 0:7 defeat is no longer an issue. “It doesn’t help Xavi, Castello or Baumi if I tell them that we went 7-0 here last year,” explained coach Marco Rose on Monday. Rather, the defeat last weekend in Wolfsburg took its toll on him. “That was kind of a tougher board for me.”
Nevertheless, it will be tough on Tuesday evening too. ManCity will not allow Leipzig to have much ball possession. According to midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, that’s not so bad. “What matters is what we do when we win the ball, how we take advantage of it, how well and courageously we finish the situations we had in the first leg.” In order to survive against Manchester, we need a perfect day: “But if we get it, something is possible here too.”
No Spreadsheet calculations
The pressure on Leipzig is at least manageable after already perfect qualification for the round of 16. The biggest goal should be to gain new self-confidence with a good performance for the tasks in the Bundesliga, where things haven’t gone so well recently. In any case, the chances of winning the group in the premier class are more of a theoretical nature, because realistically, a win would have to be three goals ahead. What would be a sensation. Accordingly, Marco Rose is concerned with “playing a good game to show ourselves, to prove ourselves, to bring things onto the pitch that are important to us.”
Gvardiol against and with Haaland
Back to Leipzig’s 7-0 defeat eight months ago. Outside the RB dressing room, the debacle is still etched in the minds of many – regardless of whether they despise RB or keep their fingers crossed. Central defender Josko Gvardiol also still remembers the disastrous evening when Erling Haaland scored five goals. “When he was replaced, I thought to myself: Finally,” Gvardiol looked back on Monday at the time when he still played for RB.
The Croatian is now playing for Manchester City, together with Haaland. “I’m happy to be his teammate,” said Gvardiol, describing Haaland’s strengths as follows: “At the start of the game he’s nowhere to be seen, then suddenly he’s there and scores a hat trick.” However, that is a tiny bit exaggerated. Because if that were always the case, ManCity wouldn’t have only drawn twice recently. Haaland’s modest return in the two games: two goals against Chelsea and one against Liverpool.
