Actual Madrid executed a smash-and-grab efficiency within the first leg of their spherical of 16 Champions League conflict in opposition to Purple Bull Leipzig. Los Blancos, who want to win the competitors for the fifteenth time, scored the one purpose within the forty eighth minute courtesy of Brahim Diaz.
Leipzig had a number of probabilities to equalise and even win the sport but it surely was Madrid who managed to knick away an unpleasant win that has given them an enormous benefit going into the second leg on the Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid had been with out the companies of their most in-form participant, Jude Bellingham, however that didn’t have an effect on them as his substitute, Diaz, scored among the best targets of the season to attain the one purpose of the sport.
Actual Madrid win in typical type
Effectively, Actual Madrid taking part in lacklustre soccer in UEFA Champions League however nonetheless profitable the sport is a narrative we’ve seen over and over, particularly in the previous few seasons. And this sport was one other reminder of why Los Blancos are kings of this match.
The 14-time winners had been put beneath a number of stress by the house workforce as they struggled to discover a constant rhythm for all the 90 minutes. Nonetheless, they capitalised on the numerous second when Brahim Diaz conjured one of many targets of the match to place his aspect within the entrance.
VAR controversy
It took solely two minutes within the sport earlier than the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) needed to get entangled. It began when an tried volley from Xaver Schlager bounced awkwardly earlier than the ball discovered its solution to Benjamin Sesko, who headed the ball into the again of the web.
The linesman flagged for offside, however replays confirmed Rodrygo was taking part in him onside. The VAR primarily based its determination on the truth that Benjamin Henrichs seemed to be blocking the imaginative and prescient of Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin, which stored the rating at 0-0.
Actual Madrid’s backline removed from good
Within the La Liga, Actual Madrid are at present on an 18-game unbeaten run stretching all the best way again to September 2023. Nonetheless, Below Leipzig’s intense urgent, Los Blancos’ defence made a number of errors, and it was solely a mixture of some poor ending by Leipzig and a few good goalkeeping by Lunin that spared their blushes.
Most of their errors had been self-inflicted, as they made some poor passes. Whereas this could possibly be checked out as one of many off days contemplating their earlier historical past within the match, Carlo Ancelotti will hope his again 4 elevate their requirements rapidly if they’re to progress additional within the match.
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Andriy Lunin proves his mettle
With Thibaut Courtois’s long-term harm concern and Kepa Arrizabalaga’s woefully off form, Ancelotti has put his belief in Andriy Lunin because the workforce’s principal shot-stopper. And in one of many greatest video games of his profession, the Ukrainian made some stable saves. A number of of his saves got here when the rating was 0-0, which stored Madrid within the sport.
Lunin additionally impressed along with his spectacular ball-playing expertise and excellently learn the sport, timing his run to perfection. If not for the Ukrainian, the results of the sport would have been completely different.
Within the different sport of the night time, Manchester Metropolis received 3-1 on the highway in opposition to Copenhagen, with Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden scoring for the guests, whereas Magnus Mattsson acquired the only real strike for the Danish workforce.
