Everything has long been clear in the table: Leipzig uses the CL group final for a 2.8 million euro victory

Everything has long been clear in the table
Leipzig uses CL group final for 2.8 million euro victory

December 13, 2023, 8:35 p.m

Progression was already certain, group victory was awarded to Manchester City – but Rasenballsport Leipzig is also approaching the last Champions League preliminary round game with all seriousness. There is a win against Young Boys Bern that fills the coffers even further.

Led by Emil Forsberg, who was probably willing to emigrate, Rasenballsport Leipzig celebrated the desired victory in the sportingly insignificant group final of the Champions League. Coach Marco Rose’s team, which had already qualified for the round of 16, won 2-1 (0-0) against Young Boys Bern. It was already clear before the game that RB would move into the knockout round as second in Group G behind Manchester City. For the win there is also the corresponding UEFA bonus of 2.8 million euros.

“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.”

Benjamin Sesko (51st) and Forsberg (56th), who according to the “Leipziger Volkszeitung” is about to move to the New York Red Bulls in the winter, scored for Leipzig. Ebrima Colley (53rd) was successful for the Swiss. Who RB has to play against in the round of 16 will be determined next Monday at the draw in Nyon/Switzerland. Before that, however, the Bundesliga starts on Saturday (6.30 p.m./Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) against TSG Hoffenheim.

Although Rose gave substitute players like Christopher Lenz, Fabio Carvalho and former regular goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi the chance to collect points against Bern, he had already assured in advance that he wanted to take the task “really seriously” and win. That was noticeable at the beginning. Benjamin Sesko’s (6th) well-played opening goal didn’t count because the video showed an offside position.

Man City achieves perfect group stage

As a result, the game became noticeably flat and it was no longer about anything. At least Gulacsi, who lost his number one status to Janis Blaswich after tearing his cruciate ligament, had the opportunity to excel in his third competitive game of the season. After a corner from Bern’s Filip Ugrinic, the Hungarian deflected a header from Cheikh Niasse (21′) over the crossbar before the 43,331 fans waited in vain for further highlights until the break.

After the restart, the second half at least made up for the boredom of the first 45 minutes. First, Sesko drove the ball into the net after a great pass from Benjamin Henrichs to take the lead, before Colley converted a Bernese counterattack that Leipzig defender Castello Lukeba had made possible with a serious mistake on a long shot. Just three minutes later, Kampl saw Forsberg standing unmarked on the left – and the Swede shot in coldly.

Manchester City took the final step towards a perfect group stage in the parallel game without numerous stars. With ex-Bundesliga professional Stefan Ortega Moreno in goal, the English won 3-2 (1-0) at Red Star Belgrade. As was the case at the weekend, top star Erling Haaland was missing from the squad. His Norwegian compatriot Oscar Bobb replaced him at the forefront. The two 20-year-olds Micah Hamilton (19th) and Bobb (62nd) as well as Kalvin Phillips (85th, penalty) scored for Pep Guardiola’s team and ensured their sixth win in their sixth game. Hwang In-Beom (76th) and Aleksandar Katai (90th + 1) scored the interim goals.