It was a rather unconvincing display at the Bernabeu by Real Madrid but the Merengues managed to eke out a 1-1 draw and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League on a 2-1 aggregate score.
The first half was a poor show by the men in white, and the Bernabeu faithful expressed their feelings openly by whistling the team.
But RB Leipzig were also unable to take advantage of Madrid’s weaknesses as they missed several chances to take the lead and could have been up at least 2-0 up by the halftime whistle.
Loïs Openda, despite being the 3rd highest goal scorer in the Bundesliga with 17 goals and 21 in all competitions, was unable to find the back of the net despite his team’s superiority on the attacking front.
At the beginning of the 2nd half, Carlo Ancelotti subbed on Rodrygo for Eduardo Camavinga and the shift in style of play paid dividends.
During the 1st half, the midfield lacked fluidity in a formation that Ancelotti had experimented with only against Atletico Madrid earlier in the season and also had ended up on the losing side at that time. The Italian admitted after the derby that he made a tactical error.
However, in spite of their mediocrity, an interception by Toni Kroos in the 65th minute put Real Madrid on the break, with Jude Bellingham making a run and providing an intelligent ball to Vinícius who smashed the ball into the net on the first touch.
However, right from the kickoff after Madrid’s goal, Leipzig attacked and eventually pulled one back just 3 minutes later with a Willi Orbán header.
On the attacking front, Leipzig were better than the Spaniards on the night, with Dani Olmo giving a scare as he hit the crossbar in stoppage time.
Andriy Lunin came to the fore again as he made pivotal saves throughout the match and a solid Rüdiger performance meant that there was not much damage caused.
At the end of it, Los Blancos did just enough to steer past their opponents to the next stage of the competition.
Individual brilliance and being clinical at the right time helped Ancelotti’s men but the team needs to pull up their socks as they would face better opponents ahead who might not be as ineffective in attack as Leipzig was.
Till then, the Vikings live to fight another day but will want to put on a convincing performance in the quarter-finals. Next up, the team will come up against Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu in La Liga, in hopes of further asserting their dominance on the league table.
