Champions League
Last minute goal seals the end: Leipzig also loses against Villa
Updated 12/10/2024 – 11:12 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
For a long time it looked as if RB Leipzig could retain a remaining chance of progressing in the Champions League. But a late goal meant the end.
Now it is a bitter certainty: Bundesliga club RB Leipzig will be eliminated from the Champions League in the league phase. After five defeats from the first five games, Leipzig also lost against Aston Villa 2:3 (1:1). Since Real Madrid won 3-2 at Atalanta Bergamo in the parallel game, Leipzig’s exit is sealed.
Misfortune for the Saxons began early on when John McGinn gave Villa the lead in the third minute. Loïs Openda was able to somewhat surprisingly equalize in the 27th minute. A similar picture after the break: Johno Durán gave the English team the lead again (52nd minute), but Leipzig equalized after a strong combination by Christoph Baumgartner (62nd).
The hosts were lucky twice that Aston Villa’s goals were not counted due to offside positions. Then Ross Barkley made it 2-3 in the 85th minute, just at a time when Leipzig was the stronger team. The home team rebelled again in the last few minutes, but missed the equalizer.
Meanwhile, things were going better for another Bundesliga team: Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 against Inter Milan with a late goal in the 90th minute.
After a decent start, RB striker Benjamin Šeško (1st) missed early from a good position and quickly played only Villa. After Matty Cash’s cross there was general confusion in the Leipzig defense, nobody felt responsible for Ollie Watkins, who passed it to McGinn before the Scot pushed in easily. And the guests continued to press.
Watkins (8th) narrowly missed a sharp cross from Lucas Digne – and thus the second goal – in the six-yard box. RB seemed far too passive in this phase and gave up space too easily. There was also little going forward at first, but when Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez completely misjudged a long ball from Seiwald and rushed far out of his goal, Openda struck coldly. The compensation from nothing.
Even though Leipzig now got into the duels a little better, Villa remained extremely dangerous and looked for depth. Cash (35th) tested RB keeper Péter Gulácsi from a distance, but aimed too centrally at the Hungarian. RB repeatedly revealed gaps in the defense, which the English exploited with through passes. After one of these, Watkins (44′) appeared in a half-right position in front of Gulácsi, who however parried the shot.
At half-time, Villa team manager Unai Emery brought on Durán for Watkins in attack. And the substitute immediately ignited. Because he saw that Gulácsi was too far in front of his goal, he shot from around 20 meters – and scored. After the new striker had his second goal called back for an offside position just seven minutes later, RB unexpectedly struck back again. After a long ball, Openda found Baumgartner, who shot in with a direct shot.
However, Durán, the Colombian whirlwind, didn’t give up; after his assist, Digne (73′) forced Gulácsi to make a brilliant save. Barkley was lucky with his deflected shot to make it 3-2. In the end, Martínez could not be defeated.
The German champions are also causing a sensation in the Champions League and can hope for a direct entry into the round of 16 of the premier class. A week after the cup coup at FC Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen also made an international impact and defeated Inter Milan, who had previously been undefeated in the competition, 1-0 (0-0). With 13 points, the Rhinelanders are in the top group of the field of 36.
In front of 30,210 spectators in the BayArena, Nordi Mukiele scored the winning goal for the hosts in the 90th minute. Bayer thus inflicted the Italians’ first defeat and their first goal in the current competition.