Leipzig drew 1-1 with Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16, ending the competition. At the same time, the German team was not far from a surprise, but the Belgian striker Loïs Openda himself threw away at least three scoring opportunities. Los Blancos only defended themselves for most of the match, but Vinícius Júnior’s strike ensured their progress after an hour of play. Willi Orbán’s accurate header responded to the Brazilian’s strike in a flash, but the Red Bulls did not have time to equalize the total score and did not disrupt the celebrations of the 122nd anniversary of the Spanish club.
Real entered the rematch with Leipzig after a wild league experience. In the duel with Valencia, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the match at the moment when the ball flew to the head of Jud Bellingham, who subsequently scored. Instead of the joy of the goal, however, the Englishman saw a red card for protesting. However, this logically did not apply to the millionaire competition, where the White Ballet wanted to improve their mood with the progress, which they had a good step towards thanks to the hit from Germany.
However, practically only Leipzig presented itself offensively in the first half. The supporters of Madrid got a hard time first when Benjamin Šešek escaped, but he was stopped by both the goalkeeper Andrij Lunin and the referee with a flag over his head. After that, Openda received the ball twice in a good shooting position, but his attempts went wide of the goal. The more active Býci managed to create the first goal between the three posts only in the 41st minute, when Lunin sent Xavi Simons’ shot over the crossbar. Openda soon had the biggest scoring opportunity of the half, sending the rebounded ball into the side net from the first.
The Belgian striker threw away another chance shortly after the change of sides when he got behind a poorly run Lunin. However, in a key phase of his action, Openda over-kicked the ball, giving the Ukrainian goalkeeper a chance to make amends. Rodrygo could have calmed down the nervous Madrid with the first shot on goal, but Péter Gulácsi hit the near post. Moments later, however, Real scored. At the end of a long solo, Bellingham made an ideal pass to Vinícius Júnior, who made waves in the net with a sharp shot. However, the bulls got a deserved hit just three minutes later. Orbán, who hadn’t noticed the Brazilian moments before, found his way to the flying center in the box and headed it behind Lunin’s back. After that, Šeško or Benjamin Henrichs could make a lightning turn, but from good positions they only sent the ball into the goalkeeper’s arms. Leipzig’s bad luck in the end was crowned by Dani Olmo in the set-up, who stamped the crossbar with a handsome arc.
With a bit of luck at home, Bílý ballet kept the lead from the first meeting and ensured progress to the quarterfinals. He will find out his opponent on March 15, when the draw will take place in Nyon.
2024-03-06 21:22:00
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