Champions League last-16 first leg: RB Leipzig 0 Real Madrid 1
Well, were you really expecting two perfect Real Madrid performances in a row? This is simply not how Madrid do things. They harness their energies, take as much pride in the ugly as the beautiful, simply do the next thing that is required of them. And so after the evisceration of Girona came the last stand against RB Leipzig, a gruff, grizzled, grimacing win in which they spent long periods without the ball.
Their one moment of grace came courtesy of Brahim Díaz, who scored a wonderful goal early in the second half before limping off late on with a hamstring injury. Beyond that it was a largely even game, and if there was a note of regret for the home side here, it lay in those missed chances in the first half, the missed opportunities to force Madrid out of their comfort zone. Though Leipzig continued to push in the later stages, they had retained very little of the lawless chaos of those early skirmishes, the same chaos that has always defined their best sides.
And these have been trying times at the headquarters of European football’s leading energy drink project. There has been talk of entropy, talk of crisis, talk about the ruthless Rasenball pressing machine not being what it was. Three defeats coming off the winter break had led to intense speculation over the future of the coach, Marco Rose. But initially at least, there was very little of that frailty on display here, as a disciplined Leipzig kept Madrid at arm’s length for long periods, moved the ball sharply through midfield and probably should have taken the lead.
Indeed, you probably have to go back to the second minute for the tie’s first pivot. Benjamin Sesko headed in Xaver Schlager’s miscued shot, only for the flag to go up for offside. Sesko in fact was onside, but Benjamin Henrichs – who wasn’t – was judged to have interfered with the Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, largely by standing behind him. It was a pretty soft decision, verging on gutless. And as well as denying Leipzig a crucial early blow, it seemed to have a diminishing effect on Sesko himself, who would go on to miss a succession of chances in that first half.
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But Leipzig’s gameplan was working, even if Madrid did begin to get a handle on their slippery counter-attacks around the half-hour mark. The injury to Jude Bellingham was of course a factor here; for all the busyness and creativity of his replacement Díaz, Bellingham’s absence put a greater burden on Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo to make inroads in the first phase of the attack. So for all the lightning breaks, there were also long sterile periods in which not much happened at all: Madrid happy to bide their time, Leipzig happy to catch their breath.
The entente was majestically broken three minutes into the second half. Increasingly Díaz had been tacking towards that right flank, and now he cut inside from that side, staying on his feet despite David Raum’s best attempts to chop him down. The finish was left-footed, sumptuous, curled into the top corner, the sort of goal that looks transcendent from any angle. For a player who has had to be patient for his minutes since returning from a three-year loan at Milan, this was another sign of a rapidly improving talent, growing in confidence as well as game intelligence.
And this, of course, is right where Madrid want you. One-nil down at home, the crowd urging you forward, the legs tiring, Toni Kroos and Eduardo Camavinga just sitting there waiting to pick you off, Vinícius and Rodrygo and Fede Valverde lurking on the break like gremlins. Kroos was just ridiculously good again, a midfielder who was everywhere without ever seeming to run anywhere, a player enjoying a stirring late-career bloom at the age of 34.
While Madrid continued to threaten on the counter, Vinícius hitting the post after a lovely run, it was Leipzig who finished the game more strongly, pinning Madrid back into their own half and forcing a couple of fine saves. Sesko missed another good chance when put through by Amadou Haidara, whose brilliant volley was then denied by the flying arm of Lunin.
But ultimately Madrid will take this: another step into the known known, a spring in which they will hope to wrap up La Liga quickly and throw all their efforts into the one competition they crave above all others. Bellingham should be back for the second leg in Spain, and on this evidence – as well as the unfortunate injury to Díaz – they may just need him a little more than they thought.
- Guardian
