Real Madrid has won the Champions League more times than any other club. 2021/22 for the 14th time – not counting the European Cup. The relatively young club Rasenballsport Leipzig (in its current form) competed in the round of 16 of the Champions League against an opponent with historical significance and class.
When Otto Rehhagel, ironically at the time as Bayern coach, said that money doesn’t score goals, football was different. Today you could say: “History doesn’t score goals”, because in the first leg it was RB Leipzig who took the lead first. In the second minute, Xaver Schlager put the ball on goal after a corner, and Benjamin Šeško headed it in. Because Benjamin Henrichs was in front of Real goalkeeper Andrij Lunin and offside, referee Irfan Peljto disallowed the goal.
A controversial decision that even Real Madrid’s eighth-placed Toni Kroos said after the game: “What can I say? I think he ends up blowing the whistle for offside because he’s obstructing him. But the goalkeeper never gets to the ball where it’s supposed to go. By So it was a goal that should have been given.” Real Madrid’s quick goal at the start of the second half (Brahim Díaz, 48th minute) was enough to win in Leipzig.
Hope for the comeback
In the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, RB had to score at least one goal without getting one. Before the game, Leipzig striker Dani Olmo spoke of the hope of a comeback. RB coach Marco Rose said at the press conference before the game: “We shouldn’t just hope so, we should also believe it. Otherwise we can fly home again.”
The people of Leipzig appeared orderly and determined. They played with concentration, not hastily, not hurriedly, but with emphasis. Real Madrid presented themselves with experience, but were otherwise content to only allow RB to have three, albeit promising, chances. In the 15th minute, Loïs Openda narrowly missed the goal. In the 40th minute, Xavi Simons, who had been inconspicuous up to that point, dropped and then had space in Real Madrid’s penalty area to shoot the ball from close range into the far corner – but without the necessary emphasis. Lunin stopped. Five minutes later, Openda put a dropkick into the side netting.
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Real, on the other hand, provided fewer highlights. When Kroos, under pressure in his own penalty area in the 28th, allowed Openda to come to nothing and, from a standing position, precisely shifted it to Ferland Mendy’s foot on the left wing, it caused applause.
Another controversial decision – again for Real
The second half was then played more intensively by both teams. Real had changed offensively and brought in an additional striker in Rodrygo. In the 54th minute, as in the first leg, there was a controversial scene that referee Daniele Massa interpreted for Real Madrid, but did not look at the scene again himself. After a borderline but regular duel on the halfway line, Vinicius Júnior brought Leipzig’s Willi Orban down and, when he got up, knocked him back down with a shove to the neck. It stayed yellow.
In the 65th minute it was Vinicius Júnior, who was not sent off, who put Madrid in the lead. Until then, he had not been able to take advantage of his extraordinary speed advantages, let alone the finishing strength he had now developed. Kroos started the scene by winning the ball and making a quick game-opening pass from his own penalty area. The assist was given by Jude Bellingham, who took a quick turn and then played the decisive pass. Just three minutes later RB equalized. It was Orban who was technically ambitious in the goal area, not entirely clean, but with full conviction, ultimately pushing into the goal not with his head but with his shoulder.
The game then became more intense. Even Kroos was warned with a yellow card in the 75th minute. After Real Madrid lost the ball, he, who had already moved up, had to stop Leipzig’s counterattack with a foul. RB moved forward more and more in the final phase. They were one goal away and had nothing to lose. One Leipzig chance followed the next, but even with their unbroken belief in the comeback, they lacked the necessary precision or luck. In the 77th minute it was Antonio Rüdiger who prevented the goal just in front of the goal line. In the first minute of injury time, Olmo hit the crossbar. In the fourth minute of injury time, the referee blew his whistle and Real Madrid are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
At the same time, defending champions Manchester City won again at home 3-1 after a 3-1 win against FC Copenhagen. This means that this favorite also remains in the competition.
Real Madrid has won the Champions League more times than any other club. 2021/22 for the 14th time – not counting the European Cup. The relatively young club Rasenballsport Leipzig (in its current form) competed in the round of 16 of the Champions League against an opponent with historical significance and class.
When Otto Rehhagel, ironically at the time as Bayern coach, said that money doesn’t score goals, football was different. Today you could say: “History doesn’t score goals”, because in the first leg it was RB Leipzig who took the lead first. In the second minute, Xaver Schlager put the ball on goal after a corner, and Benjamin Šeško headed it in. Because Benjamin Henrichs was in front of Real goalkeeper Andrij Lunin and offside, referee Irfan Peljto disallowed the goal.
