Real Madrid survived a bad first half in Germany against Leipzig and their recovery in the second helped them win by the minimum thanks to a great goal from Brahim and the saves from Lunin, by far the best on his team, on the line of the best Courtois.
The whites had a hell of a night at the Red Bull Arena, spending many minutes grinding against a team that played with great energy and that prevented them from being comfortable and being able to develop their game except in rare moments of the second half, marker favor.
In the club’s favorite competition, Carlo Ancelotti brought out the expected eleven with Tchouaméni and Nacho in the axis of defense, Brahim starting in place of the injured Jude Bellingham and with Kroos in charge of starting to distribute the game. At the top were Vinícius and Rodrygo.
Madrid’s staging could not have been worse. In the second minute they conceded a goal on a header from the Slovenian Sesko in a marking error by the entire defense. However, in a very controversial decision, the goal was annulled because the Bosnian referee and the VAR understood that defender Henrichs was bothering Lunin moments before the shot.
The goal portrayed Madrid’s state of confusion during that first quarter of an hour. Sesko missed a goal shot in an unbeatable position and Lunin saved another with his feet from a shot by the omnipresent Slovenian striker, a nightmare for the Spanish defense.
From the twentieth minute onwards, Madrid began to raise its head somewhat and cross the midfield line because it finally managed to link several passes in a row. There, another problem arose because what Leipzig is really good at is not positional attack but quick transitions, with Xavi Simons, a former Barcelona youth player, who provided good balls to the forwards.
The end of the first half ended in a scramble that did not seem to suit Madrid much because Vinícius was not having his night and did not leave his defenders. Rodrygo and Brahim appeared little. All in all, Madrid had a couple of shots in which they could do damage: a very weak one from Camavinga and another stronger but very focused one from Kroos.
Leipzig came out in the second half like a motorcycle, pushing with everything. However, in the 48th minute Brahim burst in to score a goal that was an absolute scandal. The man from Malaga stole a ball by getting away from Raum, left Xavi Simons and Schlager with skill and power and hit a shot that entered the top corner to make it 0-1.
Madrid had the score in their favor, but they were not comfortable either because Leipzig continued to press. Madrid defended very closely, with Tchouaméni becoming a colossus, winning the high battles in his best game as a centre-back.
The problem for Ancelotti’s team was twofold: the ball didn’t last long and when they had it or stole it, the team was incapable of mounting a counterattack.
In fact, for many minutes he survived protected by Lunin’s stops, which cleared everything that came his way.
In the first clear counterattack by the whites, Vinícius and Brahim were generous and allowed Rodrygo’s shot, which went very high.
Now yes, and for a few minutes the game was an absolute bullshit. After a great save by Lunin, Madrid made another counterattack, a two for two that after good driving by Brahim left Vinícius in front of a defender, he dribbled him and with everything in his favor sent his shot to the post.
Leipzig refreshed the team with a triple substitution and Ancelotti, contrary to his custom, chose not to move the bench. Leipzig had the tie in a play in which Brahim ended up injured. Haidara took advantage of the injury from Malaga and served for Sesko who shot hard and found a great Lunin. The goalkeeper multiplied in the final minutes and Madrid took a hard-fought and hard-fought victory that they will have to confirm on March 6 at the Bernabéu.
