RB Leipzig lost their second game in the group stage of the Champions League – and how: The team of coach Julian Nagelsmann lost 0: 5 (0: 1) at Manchester United. United took the lead through Mason Greenwood (21st minute), after which RB held up for a long time. With the second goal, however, Leipzig collapsed. From the 74th minute on, the Bundesliga team conceded four goals, which was directly related to the substitution of Marcus Rashford. The England striker came into the game after 63 minutes and scored three more times.
Leipzig started the game without captain Marcel Sabitzer, who last suffered from a muscle injury. The hosts, on the other hand, surprisingly did without scorer Rashford in the starting line-up – and still started with the first chance of the game: Fred came to the end from a half-right position after a saved free kick, but RB keeper Peter Gulácsi cleared for a corner (6th).
Greenwood hits – Upamecano cancels the offside
United’s playmaker Paul Pogba played the ball in the barrel of 19-year-old Greenwood, who finished flat and hit the right into the goal. The video assistant checked – RB defender Dayot Upamecano had just canceled the offside.
The Leipziger tried with more possession of the ball to equalize. The otherwise fast game hardly came into its own against the opponent’s well-organized defense against counterattacks. United goalkeeper David de Gea was not in serious danger until the break.
Leipzig is pushing – Rashford hits three times
After the restart, Leipzig pushed even more forward, but also became significantly more susceptible to losing the ball. Manchester no longer limited themselves to defending, but also used dangerous counterattacks – a specialty of the third-placed team in the previous Premier League season. Greenwood missed his second goal (51st). United was allowed to celebrate a little later, and twice after Rashford goals (74th / 78th). Anthony Martial scored with a penalty kick (85th) before Rashford (90th + 2) set the final point again.
Last season Leipzig had made it to the semi-finals of the competition before Paris Saint-Germain proved to be too strong an opponent. Against that PSG, RB will play again next week. Should Leipzig lose, it will be complicated to reach the round of 16 – before the upcoming third matchday, RB is third with three points, PSG (three points, second place) and United (six points, first place) are ahead of the Nagelsmann team.
