RB Leipzig is still the team of the hour!
With a 3-0 win against 1899 Hoffenheim and 29 points, the Saxons remain the best team in the second half of the Bundesliga season – ahead of Bayern and BVB (both 26 points).
Leipzig can once again rely on top striker Christopher Nkunku. The Frenchman scored his 17th goal of the season against Hoffenheim. He did ten of them in the second half of the season alone. He also hangs off BVB striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian only gets 16 hits.
5. Minute: Dream start for RB! Nkunku scores for the home side. The striker intercepts a free kick and nails the ball in cold as ice. But the assistant referee immediately raises the flag. Offside. This will be checked by the video referee in Cologne. The result: wrong decision. The hit counts. The Frenchman’s 17th goal of the season. A crazy quote.
Halstenberg’s dream comeback!
20. Minute: RB follows up directly. Marcel Halstenberg, who returned to the starting XI, last played from the start 323 days ago, increased to 2-0. After preparatory work by Konrad Laimer, Halstenberg pulls straight away and slams the ball into the right corner. Hoffenheim keeper Oliver Baumann has no chance. What a comeback! Halstenberg had to pause for months due to a capsule injury and recently came back to short assignments.
The returnee after the game: “I felt good. I am very pleased. I want to help the team. I have today. I will continue to step on the gas.”
“When you can’t play football for so long and then come back like this. He earned it. I was very happy for him,” said RB coach Domenico Tedesco about Halstenberg.
In the 32nd minute, referee Bastian Dankert interrupted the game for a short drinking break. It’s Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims. Only after sunset are the faithful (including Leipzig’s Mohamed Simakan) allowed to eat and drink again. In addition to a drink, Simakan is also given an energy gel and a bar.
44. Miunte: The league leaders already put the lid on it in the first half. After a counterattack, Nkunku unselfishly puts the ball on for Dominik Szoboszlai, who doesn’t take long to ask and only has to push in. 3-0 The early decision!
RB takes a big step towards the Champions League with the win. Leipzig now have 51 points, three more than Freiburg in fifth, who previously beat Frankfurt 2-1. Hoffenheim, on the other hand, has probably finally lost the premier class.
“Absolutely deserved to lose today,” said Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner after the game.
Coach Sebastian Hoeneß on his team’s performance: “I didn’t see us as dangerous in the game. We have developed far too little danger. We come here with a skeleton force. We’re missing a lot of important players. Today is very sobering. But we recognized the signals. We’re among the top six teams in the Bundesliga – and we want to stay there.
Hoffenheim had eight absentees before the game (five injured, three suspended) and could only muster an emergency team.
