Seven terrible minutes
RB Leipzig gave 1. FC Cologne a really bad beating
March 15, 2024, 10:24 p.m
In the first 45 minutes, 1. FC Köln held up well, but were also lucky not to be behind against RB Leipzig. In the second half, the guests kept up the tempo and the Rhine team collapsed under the great pressure.
Thanks to double packer Lois Openda, RB Leipzig performed brilliantly in the tight race for the Champions League and celebrated their third victory in a row. In the 5:1 (1:1) win against relegation-threatened 1. FC Köln, Openda made the difference with his goals after the break and almost single-handedly shot RB to fourth place in the table. This means that Leipzig is now two points ahead of Borussia Dortmund again.
BVB is only on Sunday (5.30 p.m./DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker) in action against Eintracht Frankfurt and can pass again. Xavi Simons (15th), Openda (63rd, 67th), Amadou Haidara (70th) and joker Yussuf Poulsen (82nd) scored for Leipzig, who had already clearly won 6-0 in the first leg. Sargis Adamyan (18th) made it 1-1, but in the end it became clear. FC could now slip to 17th place if direct relegation rivals FSV Mainz 05 win against VfL Bochum on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky).
“We had big plans for ourselves,” said Jeff Chabot from Cologne on DAZN in a depressed tone and demanded: “We have to keep going. We definitely didn’t plan on collapsing. The fact that we got five things is of course bitter. We’re going to keep going in our own hands, we have to get points.” For Leipzig’s national player David Raum, it was “a lot of fun in the end,” but “beforehand it was also hard work.”
Fans are angry with Xavi
Cologne had the first chance, but Faride Alidou (3rd) headed over the goal – after that the guests took command step by step. When Simons, Dani Olmo and Co. picked up the pace and combined, things became dangerous, and the FC put a lot of effort into combating the excess weight. But RB didn’t let themselves be stopped for long: Olmo and Benjamin Sesko played quickly forward, Xavi appeared free in front of Marvin Schwäbe and converted confidently. During the subsequent celebration in front of the Cologne curve, the Dutchman drew the anger of the home fans, and referee Florian Badstübner then told Xavi not to provoke any further.
For a brief moment, RB was unsorted at a corner, and that took its toll. Former Leipzig player Eric Martel headed Florian Kainz’s cross, Adamyan only had to push the ball over the line and celebrate his first Bundesliga goal in 559 days. However, the equalization did little to change the balance of power. Cologne tried to involve the guests, who were clearly superior in terms of play, in duels and take away their fun. Nevertheless, RB created numerous chances at the end of the first half.
Dream combination pulls Cologne’s teeth
After half an hour, Sesko missed a huge opportunity when he hit the ball over the crossbar from three meters after a save from Marvin Schwäbe against Olmo. Five minutes before the break, Henrichs missed from a promising position. The strong Olmo took the excess of chances to the extreme with a shot off the post and Openda failed from three meters to Schwäbe in stoppage time.
After the substitution, the game initially remained one-sided in favor of the guests, but the Cologne team set the highlight with a spectacular scissor strike from Max Finkgräfe (54′). When Openda completed another dream combination via Sesko and Xavi and then headed in a cross from David Raum, it was initially completely quiet in the Cologne World Cup stadium. It was seven terrible minutes with three goals that completely ruined the hosts. The FC fans picked themselves up again, but things got even worse for Cologne on the pitch. For Effzeh it was the heaviest home defeat since the 6-1 defeat against BVB in March 2012. Leipzig had already won the first leg last October 6-0.