Champions League Forsberg’s farewell goal: Leipzig defeats Bern
Will probably leave RB Leipzig for New York: Emil Forsberg. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
For RB Leipzig and Bern it was about nothing in the last group game of the Champions League. This was evident in the game for a long time before it really picked up momentum in the second half.
After the winning goal, the applause for Emil Forsberg was particularly loud when he was substituted, everyone on the bench wanted to high-five him.
The Swede played for probably the last time with RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday evening and scored the Saxons’ 2-1 win against Young Boys Bern with his goal. The Saxons will continue in the round of 16 in 2024, and Forsberg will then probably be under contract in New York. Only the official confirmation is still missing.
Before Forsberg’s goal in the 56th minute, Benjamin Sesko (51st) scored for Leipzig and Ebrima Colley (53rd) for Bern and gave the 43,331 spectators an entertaining second half. “Very important to finish the group stage with a win,” said Leipzig’s Kevin Kampl. “We won through fight and unity. There were a lot of people there who hadn’t played for a long time. That’s why we forgave ourselves the mistakes.”
Roses Rotationsmaschine
Compared to the victory in Dortmund, coach Marco Rose changed his starting eleven to eight positions. The focus was on Peter Gulacsi, who was in goal in a home game for the first time since tearing his cruciate ligament in October 2022. The Hungarian international also led the team onto the field as captain. The stars and top scorers Loïs Openda and Xavi Simons were given a break and only came in the final quarter of an hour, when Forsberg said goodbye to lots of applause.
Everything was already clear in terms of sport before kick-off. RB Leipzig was already safely in the round of 16 as second in Group G behind Manchester City and the Swiss champions are continuing their international season in third place in the Europa League. The draw for the knockout round of the premier class will take place on Monday in Nyon.
Leipzig started well. After just six minutes, Forsberg fed Sesko, the Slovenian pirouetted around his opponent and pushed the ball into the far corner. However, the joy only lasted a good half a minute because Sesko was clearly offside.
Show running at a manageable level
After that, the level of play dropped dramatically. Bad passes, lack of ideas, coordination difficulties and fouls characterized the event. The visitors had the best chance to take the lead in the first half, almost inevitably from a set piece. After a corner from Filip Ugrinic (21′), Cheikh Niasse got the ball with the back of his head and Gulacsi prevented the deficit with a strong save.
“We started very well and then lost the thread a bit,” said Leipzig’s Christopher Lenz. “We knew that not everything could work in the formation. We stepped up a gear in the second half.”
After the break, six minutes had passed again and Sesko scored again – this time it counted. The 20-year-old let his opponent out with a simple hook and hit the ball into the corner from close range.
The spell was broken – also for Bern. Just two minutes later, Castello Lukeba let the ball slip through, Jean-Pierre Nsame broke through on the right wing and fed Colley in the middle.
Just three minutes later, Forsberg shot with his left and hit the far corner. In all likelihood it was his last goal in the Champions League for RB Leipzig. The 32-year-old’s winter move to the sister club in New York is reportedly a done deal. There, Forsberg, who has been playing in Leipzig since 2015, will receive the well-paid contract until 2027, which RB no longer wanted to give him.
dpa
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