Berlin – The Champions League out of RB Leipzig is sealed early. The semi-finalist from last year can no longer reach the knockout phase despite the late 2: 2 (1: 2) on Wednesday evening against Paris Saint-Germain. The only hope left for the Bundesliga club after the first point in the premier class is the chance to win the Europa League to hibernate internationally.
The Paris-born Christopher Nkunku (8th) headed Leipzig in front of 39,794 spectators against his ex-club before the previously fouled André Silva missed a penalty (12th). Georginio Wijnaldum immediately punished: First he scored to equalize (21st), then to take the lead (40th). Dominik Szoboszlai (90 + 2) scored the late equalizer for RB with a penalty kick.
After Lionel Messi’s loss due to injury, PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino brought in Neymar, who was still missing in the first leg, who played alongside Messi’s compatriot Angel di Maria and the recovered Kylian Mbappé and was moderately committed. In the storm, Marsch relied on the sole leader, Silva, who had equalized in the first leg. In addition, Tyler Adams, Konrad Laimer and Emil Forsberg moved into the starting line-up compared to the 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt – but RB was not enough to start more than 25 minutes.
“We play 5: 3: 2, we will build up with a tight three-man chain and play over the wings. But it is important that we have a strong counterpressure when we lose the ball, ”said Marsch before kick-off. However, his team only took this to heart in the initial phase. After winning the ball, Silva crossed to Nkunku, who scored his fifth goal in the current competition and left out the cheers against his ex-club.
Just two minutes later, the Swedish referee Andreas Ekberg pointed to the penalty spot. Regular scorer Forsberg left the ball to the fouled Silva, but it failed because of Gianluigi Donnarumma. “I would have liked Emil Forsberg to shoot,” said ex-trainer and sports director Ralf Rangnick, a TV expert for Internet provider DAZN, about the penalty. “Up until then they did a great job.” But after the missed opportunity, the previously weak Parisians turned the game around.
PSG used the first nice combination in the attack via Neymar, di Maria and Mbappé to equalize: Wijnaldum only had to insert to 1-1. Then the game flattened out, Leipzig started, Paris usually only waited for a counterattack and added before the break: After a corner, Marquinhos headed to Wijnaldum, who only had to nod off. First the flag went up, but then the video assistant corrected: The hit counted. It could have been worse: Immediately before the half-time whistle, Mbappé ran freely towards Peter Gulacsi, but the Hungarian prevented the 3-1.
After the change, Marsch took an increased risk, brought in the offensive Amadou Haidara for defender Willi Orban, and after an hour Yussuf Poulsen and Dominik Szoboszlai came. It just didn’t help. Paris did little, disappointed with many playback errors, but Leipzig did not take advantage of the mistakes. PSG rarely used pinpricks, failed, among other things, by Mbappé (64th). Szoboszlai missed a good RB chance (72nd) before Leipzig received the second penalty. Szoboszlai did better than Silva and scored.