Immediate Reaction: RB Leipzig 3-2 Real Madrid

RB Leipzig - Real Madrid (Vinicius, Rodrygo PK): Here is the immediate reaction to the victory. Still to come: press conference details, player ratings and the ManagingMadrid podcast.

Real Madrid had the chance to secure top spot in the group by avoiding defeat away to RB Leipzig. After a testing encounter over the weekend against Sevilla, Ancelotti opted to rotate a little. Asensio and Camavinga started with Nacho and Militao paired at center back. The experiment of Antonio Rudiger playing full back has continued with the German native tested at left back this time;

Paired against an all white Leipzig, Real nearly got off to the worst possible start only for a Courtois save and some clinical defending from Rudiger in the box to save the day. In spite of the early let off, the visitors continued their poor start and eventually fell a goal behind from a corner. The sequence was a bit of a mess from Madrid, Nacho missed the header completely, Asensio made himself somewhat of a nuisance and, though Courtois got fingertips to the original effort, he couldn’t keep out Gvardiol’s follow up.

Nkunku then nearly made it 2-0 from well outside the area after catching Courtois outside his area. He did eventually double the advantage, from another corner. This time Leipzig went short and got a little lucky with the ball bouncing off a Real Madrid player before landing before Nkunku who rifled home.

Real did start to wake up after going two goals down. Both Vinicius and Camavinga sharpened up their play and started pushing Leipzig back into their own area. Vini had a handful of chances before scoring just before halftime. Marco Asensio, who’d had esstentially three touches leading up to this, played a big part in the goal with his run into the box and cross.

Momentum didn’t carry into the second half and Real struggled to continue creating consistent chances like they had before the whistle. Perhaps the best opportunity to level the game came 12 minutes from time when some nice buildup teed Vini up, but his shot skimmed just wide of the near post. A few minutes later Werner made it 3-1 on the counter and wrapped up the game.

Rodrygo won and converted a penalty with literally the last kick of the game because he knew I’d be waiting for match photos before publishing and didn’t want me to relax.

It’s a poor performance overall, fortunately it shouldn’t cost Real much in the long run with qualification already secure and a chance to take top spot at home to Celtic. More coverage to come on the site so stay tuned!