RB Leipzig started the Champions League season with a win. At the Young Boys Bern, the Saxons showed a solid performance that was enough to achieve success.
The trip to Young Boys Bern was worth it for RB Leipzig. The Saxons deservedly won 3:1 (1:1) against coach Raphael Wicky’s team. Coach Marco Rose’s team got off to an optimal start to the Champions League season.
“It was the difficult game we expected,” said RB coach Marco Rose. “Here you first have to persist with the atmosphere. After the lead, we managed too much and became too passive.” At halftime the players spoke to each other and Leipzig found their way back to their game. “I thought it was good that the boys were mad at themselves. But it wasn’t super loud,” Rose reported.
Three good ones Goal opportunities
The Leipzig team immediately started at top speed and visibly overwhelmed the Swiss. The result of this attack mode: The guests took the lead in the 3rd minute. After a corner, Mohamed Simakan headed in from close range.
The first goal for RBL seemed almost overdue. In the first two minutes, Leipzig had already had three good chances to score, all of which were missed by Lois Openda, Emil Forsberg and Yussuf Poulsen one after the other.
After that the game calmed down. Bern got into the game a little better, but initially without becoming a goal threat. However, the Leipzig team became more passive from minute to minute, which caused the Swiss to have more confidence in their offensive game.
Openda keeps failing
It was attacker Meschack Elia who took advantage of the opportunity and made it 1-1 (33rd minute) with a long-range shot from 16 meters. Afterwards, Leipzig had a hard time fending off the high pressure from Bern, which they only managed with difficulty.
The second half started similarly to the first. Leipzig’s attacker Openda had the first chance shortly after the restart, but was denied twice by goalkeeper Anthony Racioppi. After that, the Leipzig team remained active and kept looking for a way to go on the offensive. However, the Saxons initially lacked the necessary assertiveness in front of the opposing goal.
No penalty for Xavi Simons
The Albanian referee Enea Jorgji also rated an alleged foul on Xavi Simons in the Bern penalty area (54th) as insufficient for a penalty – to the displeasure of Leipzig. “For me it was a penalty,” said Simons on DAZN. “Unfortunately he didn’t make that decision, so we moved on.”
After 62 minutes, it was Openda again who, after a cross from David Raum, was once again denied by goalkeeper Racioppi with his header from close range and completely unchallenged.
Schlager takes the lead
But then the redeeming goal came: Xaver Schlager turned the superiority into a lead in the second half. The Austrian tried a shot from 22 meters, his ball landed flat and unstoppable in the bottom corner of the Bern goal to make it 2-1 (73′).
The Swiss then tried to equalize, but the visitors withstood their efforts with concentration. Benjamin Sesko, who came on as a substitute in the second half, scored shortly before the final whistle after a counterattack to make the final score 3-1 (90.+2). The Rose team left the field as deserved winners.
On the second matchday of the group phase (Wednesday, October 4th, 2023), Leipzig will host defending champions Manchester City.