A courageous performance was not enough for RB Leipzig to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League against a ripped-off Real Madrid. A 1:1 (0:0) draw on Wednesday evening was enough for the royals led by their chief strategist Toni Kroos to progress to the round of the top eight teams. Real had won the first leg in Saxony 1-0.
The Saxons did try to play for the necessary opening goal early on. However, they did not launch an unconditional attack at first. Benjamin Sesko (10') failed to score in front of Real goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, but had previously been offside. Lois Openda had a better chance shortly afterwards (16'), but his shot from an acute angle went just wide after good preparatory work from Dani Olmo.
Thus, a game developed as the Madrilenians had probably planned it beforehand. Leipzig made an effort, but Real largely controlled proceedings. The hosts defended cleverly and hardly gave the Saxons any space. Leipzig's wait-and-see approach led to repeated chances to score, such as from Xavi Simons (41) and Openda (42), but the visitors were unable to capitalize on them.
Real played casually, Real relied on their experience. The hosts were probably not bothered by the first whistles at half-time for their restrained style of play. Real did their thing, while Leipzig continued to attack. The Spaniards were slow to push forward. And it was somehow fitting that they were successful with their first big chance of the game.
