Real Madrid did not fail in their task during their round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against Leipzig.
Real Madrid remains Real Madrid. Even deprived of a good part of its starters, including star Jude Bellingham, the most successful European club did the job this Tuesday by getting the better of RB Leipzig on the 1er Champions League knockout match.
Brahim Diaz’s jewel
At the RB Arena, the Merengue suffered, but they never gave in. With nine saves made, their goalkeeper pulled out all the stops. The only time they were surprised the opponent’s goal was refused due to offside. It was at the very start of the match on a recovery from Benjamin Sesko (2nde).
With Aurélien Tchouaméni, Real therefore held on well behind. And up front, he relied on Brahim Diaz to make the difference. At the 48e minute of play, the former Milan player made the difference by dribbling past several opposing players, before placing a curling shot into the top corner. This small individual feat was necessary to crack the hermetic German defense. The hero of the match, however, was unable to finish the game. Ten minutes from time, Diaz had to leave the field due to injury.
Diaz scored a beautiful goal.
Lunin kept Real afloat
1-0, the score then remained unchanged. But, he could have. At 72e, Vinicius Jr found the opposing post. And on the other side, Andriy Lunin was imperious on his line, first opposing a heavy strike from Sesko (82nd) then a point-blank shot from Haidara (85th).
After its brilliant victory in the league against Girona (4-0), Real confirms its rise in power through this success. Despite the constraints, and as usual, the most successful European club is accelerating at the best time of the campaign.
Note that in the other evening match, Manchester City also lived up to its status. The Sky Blues won 3-1 in Copenhagen. De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Foden were the scorers for the title holders.
