Manchester City will face RB Leipzig in the Champions League for the second season in a row.
Last season’s group stage encounters saw the two sides meet for the very first time, and both were fascinating games with lots of goals and incidents. Hopefully the upcoming clashes will provide more of the same.
Man City 6-3 RB Leipzig
Now Leeds United manager, Jesse Marsch was in charge of Leipzig for the first-ever meeting between the two sides. A 6-3 win at the Etihad in September 2021 was one of the games of the season in the Champions League.
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Though the final score suggests City were reasonably dominant, it was a lot less comfortable than the result would lead you to believe, with a consistent pattern of City going two goals ahead and Leipzig then pulling them back.
Leipzig’s star player Christopher Nkunku was at his scintillating best for the visitors, hitting a clinical hat-trick with three goals from three shots. He is still the danger man for the German side, with 11 goals in 12 Bundesliga starts so far this season to go with three goals in six Champions League starts.
Shutting down Nkunku will be key to City’s hopes of progressing to the Champions League quarter-finals, as his pace and exceptional finishing mean he can create goals out of nothing.
Despite the Frenchman's brilliance, City did just enough to keep the German side at arm’s length throughout the encounter, restoring their two-goal cushion within five minutes of each Leipzig goal, although the overall performance was far from convincing.
The game was finally put to bed when former City defender Angelino picked up two bookings in the second half and got himself sent off, with the score sitting at 5-3. Gabriel Jesus then increased City’s lead to three goals for the first time in the match, to cap off a game that had it all.
Leipzig’s fast counters and free-roaming forwards caused City a lot of problems defensively, however, and it was only their own defensive frailties that prevented this tie from being a lot closer, with City scoring six goals from eight shots on target.
Leipzig’s defensive fragility does not seem to have improved since last year, with new manager Marco Rose seeing his side concede an average of 1.5 goals per game in all competitions this season. This is actually significantly worse than last season, where they were conceding at a rate of 1.1 goals per game.
Given the aforementioned stats, you would imagine that City will be quite comfortable here. There are few sides better in world football at punishing mistakes and this Leipzig defence will always give you a chance, though their attacking threat cannot be underestimated.
RB Leipzig 2-1 Man City
By the time the second leg arrived, City were already assured of not only a place in the knockout stages but also top spot in Group A. Their line-up reflected this, with Jack Grealish, Fernandinho, Nathan Ake and Zack Steffen all given a rare start, whilst others like Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ilkay Gundogan were also given their chance to impress.
City lacked rhythm - as you might expect from a side that had not played together almost at all that season. Leipzig, meanwhile, still needed to better the result of Club Brugge to ensure they would drop down into the Europa League after failing to beat Paris Saint-Germain in either of their games earlier in the group stage.
Leipzig started the game much the stronger of the two sides, and though City would finish the game with more shots, it was the hosts who had the more clear-cut chances. After Kevin De Bruyne and Grealish both spurned good chances by blazing over from inside the area, City’s sloppiness was punished when midway through the first half, Dominik Szoboszlai was played through and had all the time in the world to round Steffen and slot the ball home.
Once again, Leipzig’s counter-attacking threat was evident, with a raft of midfielders constantly looking for through-balls to the fast-breaking forwards ahead of them.
Following the goal, Steffen was forced into two huge saves, first from Emil Forsberg’s effort from 12 yards and a point-blank headed effort from Andre Silva, both of which kept City in the game as Leipzig began to take full control.
Despite the weakened team, City did rally towards the end of the half, with Phil Foden having a low drive tipped onto the post by Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi before the shot-stopper made a comfortable save to deny De Bruyne from a free-kick just before the interval.
The first half demonstrated Leipzig’s quality and the need to be constantly alert and ready to run as a defender facing a side that likes to play so quickly and this tendency is likely to be heightened in knockout football. It also showcased the gulf between the sides, as a fairly heavily rotated City side still carved out plenty of chances, even if they were unable to finish them all.
Leipzig scored their second goal in the 70th minute, with City being too casual with their passing and allowing their hosts to pickpocket them twice in quick succession. On the second occasion, Forsberg emerged with the ball on the counter-attack. He then squared the ball to the unmarked Silva who confidently slotted home.
City’s consolation came from a fantastic Zinchenko cross to the far post where Riyad Mahrez was on hand to nod the ball home. They were unable to take advantage of the shift in momentum, however, as six minutes after the goal, Kyle Walker lashed out at Silva as he ran through and was duly sent off.
It is harder to take useful lessons from this tie, simply because of its ‘dead rubber’ status and also the teams that were put out, but Leipzig’s philosophy was clear to see. They will likely play a similar way if given the opportunity to do so, and despite the change in manager both before this game and again this season, the overall philosophy and style of the team have remained consistent.
The key takeaway from both of their group stage games last season is that Leipzig’s fast breaks created enormous issues for City. In just the second game alone, they resulted in two goals and a red card that would ultimately see Walker suspended. Preventing these breaks from becoming dangerous opportunities is the key to winning this tie.
Fortunately, Pep Guardiola has spent the last three years ensuring his team have as much control of the ball as possible, to take the sting out of fast-breaking opponents and to prevent his side from being out of position when they lose the ball.
Providing City play up to the standard they are capable of, they should come through this tie relatively unscathed. Though they can certainly hurt the Blues, Leipzig’s determination to play quickly and push numbers forward should ultimately favour City with their ball retention allowing them to control the tempo and to probe the Leipzig defence, waiting for a mistake which last season’s games would suggest is always a possibility.
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