RB Leipzig travel to England to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as they look to secure their place in the Champions League Quarter-Finals.
The Bundesliga side go into the game following a 3-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday. It was a comfortable win for Leipzig as they dominated the game throughout before taking the lead in the second half through Timo Werner in the 57th minute. Emil Forsberg doubled the lead in the 71st minute before Joško Gvardiol scored the third in the 80th minute.
As for Manchester City, they are coming off of a frustrating 1-0 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday. The only goal of the game was scored by former Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in the 78th minute from the penalty spot.
For Leipzig to win the tie, they need to avoid a scenario like the first-half of the reverse fixture where City completely controlled the game and Leipzig were unable to pressure the City defence. A change in the game was seen when Benjamin Henrichs was introduced in the second-half. The right-back has been one of Leipzig’s best players since the World Cup break and replacing Lukas Klostermann gave Leipzig another attacking outlet that they were able to use.
Marco Rose has also started to get the best out of Timo Werner as he once again scored at the weekend. The 27-year-old has 18 goal contributions this season, and if Leipzig are to be penned back against City, they will need to make use of Werner’s pace.
However, the issue for Leipzig is that they will be without Christopher Nkunku who picked up another injury in Leipzig’s 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund whilst Xaver Schlager, who has been important to Leipzig’s midfield for the majority of the season, will also miss the game. A minor boost is that Rose has confirmed that Dani Olmo is an option for the Bundesliga side, which could see the Spaniard feature for 20 minutes.
The first-leg saw City take the lead through Riyad Mahrez in the 27th minute in a City dominant first-half. But after the break, Leipzig came to life and a Gvardiol equaliser in the 70th minute means Leipzig travel to England with it all to play for.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
