AOn Saturday, RB boss Oliver Mintzlaff wanted to inspect the progress that the Bundesliga club from Leipzig has made over the past six months. The first impression he took away was a 6-0 loss at FC Bayern on matchday 1. It wasn’t even close to being that bad on Saturday evening, but what Mintzlaff saw was probably something the former athlete, who had a lot of football expertise with him (especially the former Pöhler Jürgen Klopp), perceived as somewhat sobering. Despite taking the lead, Leipzig suffered a 3-1 defeat against Leverkusen.
On the one hand, this was the first home defeat of the current season, but on the other hand, it meant that second place in the Bundesliga went to Borussia Dortmund for the time being. After just six points from the last six games, Leipzig even slipped into fourth place behind Leverkusen, who were weakened by substitutes and the African Cup. Are these already the first harbingers of a crisis?
:“Sometimes opponents come to me and say: Please, please don’t!”
Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo is one of the most feared free-kick takers in the world. He explains his shooting technique, what role the wall and the goalkeeper play, what he learned from Cristiano Ronaldo – and he expresses a strange suspicion.
After Montrell Culbreath scored 3-1 in the 90th minute, Leipzig initially complained about a handball in Leverkusen’s penalty area that occurred before the goal was scored. RB defender Willi Orbán had undercut Leverkusen defender Robert Andrich, and Andrich touched the ball with his hand as he fell. After a lengthy review by the VAR, the referee awarded the goal. Justifiably so. “If you give a penalty for that – get well soon,” said Andrich.
The 1:3 came long after Xaver Schlager’s opening goal (35′) and the game was not completely, but considerably, turned on its head. Until then, the Leipzig team, seriously styled as “Bayern hunters” by one or the other, had largely presented themselves as a small team. The focus was on either pressing high or defending deep – and in either case hoping for moments of transition. This is standard practice for many teams, and Leverkusen is not entirely unfamiliar with such an approach. But the Leverkusen team sometimes tried to play football.
The history of the creation of Leipzig’s opening goal stood for itself. Christoph Baumgartner timed the right moment to hurl a throw-in at Schlager, and he, running along the penalty line, intercepted the Leverkusen defense’s parade. When Schlager reached the height of the second post, he fired – and sank the ball into the bottom left of the net. The fact that Leverkusen seemed more mature and self-confident in terms of football and had the better chances thanks to Patrik Schick (5th), Martin Terrier (6th), Arthur (21st) and again Schick (24th) suddenly seemed to make no difference.
Leipzig a Bayern hunter? RB played more like an outsider against Leverkusen
But Leverkusen reacted. First through Terrier, who headed Arthur’s well-tempered cross into the corner in a high arc (40′). And then through Schick. Nathan Tella sent the Czech striker, who once also played in Leipzig, into the area that RB captain Willi Orbán had criminally neglected. There Schick danced past full-back Kosta Nedeljkovic before driving the ball under the crossbar to make the score 2-1 at halftime.
After the break, Leipzig tried Impetus. But without obvious opportunities to counter, Leipzig’s luck is at its last. Danish striker Conrad Harder (52′) had the biggest chance when Schlager somehow – yes, really somehow – stuffed the ball into the penalty area. But Harder took his left foot instead of his right, allowing Leverkusen goalkeeper Mark Flekken to parry the ball. He later hit the side netting after a cross from captain David Raum (61′). In truth, Leverkusen were able to endure the hosts’ attacks with some equanimity.
In the final phase, coach Ole Werner brought Mintzlaff’s favorite player into the game: Timo Werner. The former DFB striker has been being shipped to the USA by local media for weeks, although the alleged intentions to change are likely to fit into RB’s plans. Werner is considered a big earner in Leipzig, reportedly earning around ten million euros a year. In the season so far he has only had two short Bundesliga appearances in Wolfsburg and against Union Berlin and you couldn’t blame him for not attracting any attention.
However, Werner had no further action worth mentioning in Leipzig on Saturday evening. In contrast to the winning goal scorer Culbreath, who scored his first goal on his Bundesliga debut.
