Kroos’ Real suffers and wins
RB Leipzig struggles with goal theft, strokes of genius and themselves
By Sebastian Schneider, Leipzig
February 14, 2024, 6:05 a.m
RB Leipzig puts up a great fight against Real Madrid. The Bundesliga team was extremely unfortunate to lose the first leg of the Champions League. In the end there is a lot of debate: especially about the referee.
Actually, Marco Rose didn’t plan to do that. The RB Leipzig coach said after the unfortunate 1-0 defeat against Real Madrid that he definitely didn’t want to turn it into a referee story. There’s just one problem: it’s almost impossible not to do this. Because the team around the Bosnian official Irfan Peljto presented the 45,028 people in the Leipzig Red Bull Arena with a mystery that cannot be solved.
The stage was set for a big Champions League evening. For a hero story in the hero city. Round of 16 first leg – then also against Real Madrid, the 14-time CL winner. And RB, which was only founded in 2009, could even rely on its short history. It was only 14 months ago that Leipzig had defeated the Royals, in an unimportant group game – but it didn’t matter. And: They have never been eliminated against a Spanish team (well, there have only been six CL participations so far).
Even the beginning was promising that this series could continue. The RB fans’ choreography hadn’t even been put away yet when, after just 1:36 minutes, the first big cheers erupted in the former central stadium. Real goalkeeper Andriy Lunin didn’t hit Leipzig’s first corner far enough away. The ball fell to Xaver Schlager’s feet on the edge of the box. He took it with a dropkick and maneuvered the ball over Lunin to the five-meter edge. There Benjamin Sesko headed into the empty goal and celebrated – in vain in the end.
“What did you actually do?”
But why in vain? It wasn’t just the protagonists who were puzzled about it. Sesko was neither offside nor was there a foul. The assistant still raised the flag and the VAR also confirmed the wrong decision. In the end, a Leipzig player is said to have hindered the Real goalkeeper, who in turn would not have been able to reach the ball anyway. “In the end, you ask yourself: What did you actually do that didn’t award you this goal in the end?” mused the angry sports director Rouven Schröder later.
So it remains a hypothetical question: What would have happened without this absurd wrong decision? Maybe it would have been a similar game with the early 1-0, RB coach Rose suspected. Because RB could hardly have done it much better. Leipzig’s counterattacks put a lot of stress on Real’s weakened defense, which looked very insecure and vulnerable without its regular players around DFB star Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba.
“We had to suffer today,” admitted Real coach Ancelotti. The Madrilenians not only missed the injured Jude Bellingham, but also any dynamic in the offensive game. Especially in the first half, winger Vinícius Jr. was rarely able to use his pace – especially because there were always two RB players on his feet.
Toni Kroos, who is probably open to returning to the DFB team, couldn’t change that. He controlled the Madrilenians’ attacking efforts like a quarterback: sometimes with his passes, sometimes using hand signals to determine where the ball should be played. He was supported by Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde. They made up for what Kroos was missing – because the 34-year-old couldn’t always keep up with the nimble Leipzig offensive artists.
A stroke of genius
And who knows, maybe this game would have ended 0-0 – if Real Madrid weren’t a top team. What distinguishes such teams is that in the end there are still individual artists who ensure special moments. So it was Brahim Díaz, the Bellingham representative, who took courage immediately after half-time (49th minute) and simply started dribbling.
Ancelotti later described how he hoped that Díaz would not waste the equipment on his way. “He didn’t lose the ball, he scored the goal,” said the Real coach, adding “fantastic.” Because that was actually it. The Spaniard left one Leipzig player after the other: first David Raum, then Xavi Simons, Xaver Schlager and finally defense chief Willi Orban, in order to then flick the ball into the goal from the edge of the box.
However, RB did not give in to the stroke of genius. It became wilder, more hectic, more disorganized. Referee Peljto also made sure of this, making one or two minor mistakes. However, his team couldn’t help it that neither Sesko, Simmons or Amadou Haidara took advantage of their chances.
“Football is a results sport,” summed up the dejected Schlager, “and we’re losing 1-0.” It’s been going on for the past few weeks, he said: “In the end, the opponent scored one more goal out of few chances – and we didn’t score one out of many.” It was already the problem in the Bundesliga: There was only one win this year – Leipzig only got 4 out of a possible 15 points. RB is now in danger of missing out on the premier class.
“We caused problems for Real”
The impressive performance was overshadowed by debates: the referee and the exploitation of opportunities. And yet, the dream of the quarter-finals still lives on. “We caused problems for Real and we’ll take that into the second leg,” said Rose. “We are going there to take the next step in development as a team,” he said. “We’ll soak it up, take it with us. We definitely want to show ourselves there.” You will try to be the most difficult opponent possible.
As for the referee? At the end, the RB coach also had encouraging words for the Bosnian. “It was his first knockout game, so maybe he was a little nervous,” said Rose, “so I hope he does better next time.” It’s just that it’s unlikely there will be a next time.