With their 3-2 victory over Real Madrid at home on Tuesday, RB Leipzig moved one step closer to the knockout round of the Champions League. For top Champions League coverage and the best casino offers check out our sports pages.
With nine points, the German team is in second place in Group F, one point behind group leaders Real and three points ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk, whom they will play in their last group game against next week, needing a draw to secure a top-two finish.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti rested several regular starters because Real Madrid had already secured a spot in the round of 16, and his club was quickly outplayed by the inexperienced Leipzig squad.
13 minutes into the game, the home team seized the lead when Josko Gvardiol converted on the rebound of a Thibaut Courtois save following a powerful header by Andre Silva.
Five minutes later, while the European champions were still reeling from the initial blow, Leipzig increased their lead when David Raum attempted to pass into the box but the ball deflected off a defender and into the path of Christopher Nkunku. Nkunku reacted quickly and rifled the ball in off the crossbar.
Leipzig had two more excellent opportunities, but Courtois turned away Amadou Haidara’s strike from the edge of the box and Nkuku missed from close range after eluding the Madrid goalkeeper who was advancing on the play and finding himself with a tight angle while attempting to hit the empty net.
Courtois, goalkeeper of Real Madrid said in a statement after the match: “I think we came out very distracted at the beginning of the game and were caught sleeping against a team that is very aggressive. Coach Ancelotti warned us before the game that they are a feisty team at home, very aggressive, but we still started slow and paid the price.” For some of the best sports betting bonuses on the market make sure to take a look at our web pages.
Just before halftime, Vinicius Junior scored Real’s equalizer with a header that slid inside the left post. However, Leipzig went ahead 3-1 in the 81st minute with a close-range goal from Timo Werner to cap a fast counterattack.
Timo Werner said in a recent comment: We knew Madrid was strong on the ball and there would be phases where we were pushed back, Manager Rose told us to be brave when in possession and that’s what we did. We have achieved what we wanted. We have it in our own hands (to go through to the last 16) and don’t even need to win against Shakhtar now.”
After being fouled, Rodrygo rose to score Real’s second goal in extra time from the penalty spot, but it was unable to prevent their first defeat in all competitions this year.
