New Delhi: While people are busy criticising Manchester City and their drastic decline in the Champions League, a lot of them may hav not have taken a deeper look at RB Leipzig’s condition. After finishing fourth in the Bundesliga and making it to the round of 16 in the Champions League in 2023–24, giving the holders Real Madrid a hard time, RB Leipzig were a Pot One team for the league-phase draw. Some even went so far as to call Marco Rose’s squad the dark horses for this season’s competition.
Leipzig losing their first six European matches and being one of the first teams to be sent out of the competition under the new system was a huge upset. To be fair, Leipzig did suffer close losses to Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Liverpool, and Inter during that run, but they also lost 3-1 on the road to Celtic, and their terrible defense caused them to lose to Aston Villa at home. They could have done far better as an attacking team featuring Dutch schemer Xavi Simons, Belgian tyro Lois Openda, and Slovenian sensation Benjamin Sesko.
Although they managed to preserve some pride by defeating Sporting CP 2-1, they were humiliated by Sturm Graz’s 1-0 victory, the same club that finished two places places above them at 30th position. It is undeniable that Leipzig’s Champions League campaign was a complete failure, as they appear to have stalled under Rose in recent months. However, the following factors truly affected their overall performances in the Champions League this season.
Niederlage in Klagenfurt zum Abschluss unserer #UCL-Saison.#STURBL #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/trkaTGeSv6
— RB Leipzig (@RBLeipzig) January 29, 2025
Star men failing to produce anything good
Leipzig’s star men from last season have really fallen off, especially in this Champions League campaign where the Germans only managed to win once in the entirety of the campaign. Ikoma Lois Openda’s form has drastically gone down since the last season, where he was named one of the most leathal strikers in Europe. The Belgian scored four times in the eight appearances that he made in the Champions League. This season, he was next to invisible for Leipzig, as he managed just one goal and two assists in eight appearances in the Champions League.
Besides Openda, another big name who had a stand-out performance for Leipzig last season was Xavi Simons who had four goal contirbutions in last season’s Champions League and well, let’s just say that this season he wouldn’t want to look back at his performances in at the European level. The young Dutch winger had zero goal contributions in his five appearances, suggesting a horrible Champions League campaign for someone who promised a lot before the start of the season.
Leipzig’s only source of goals has been Benjamin Sesko, who did score four times in the Champions League but barely got support from the players around him. A usually reliable Willy Orban at the back was found extremely shaky throughtout the league stages. However, they conceded 15 goals throughout the league phase, which wasn’t that bad, but their attack really let them down.
Big departures not helping Leipzig’s situation
To be honest, Leipzig have had some of the top talents playing for them in the past few seasons, and in this campaign, it was no different until their star playmaker Dani Olmo and strong defender Mohamed Simakan, both left the club. Olmo joined Barcelona mid season, who was turning out to be the difference maker in that midfield for Rose’s side and on the other hand, Simakan who managed to create that chemistry with Orban, joined Saudi side Al Nassr.
While the outgoings ruined their overall game, the new signings are yet to deliver the goods, that including the likes of Lutsharel Geertruida, Arthuer Vermeeren and Antonio Nusa, who has been decent in the league, but barely had anything to show in Europe. However, that might be a small point, but eventually turned out to be a massive point behind their performances in the Champions League this season.
RB Leipzig’s Champions League run was a complete disaster, as they went from being the dark horses of this campaign to the biggest disappointment after their exit from the competition. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
