The distribution of roles in the Europa League semi-finals was clear from the start: although RB Leipzig were visually clearly superior in the first half, the home side rarely had great chances because the Rangers defended very compactly and only made a few mistakes on the defensive.
After a little over fifteen minutes, Leipzig were unable to capitalize on one of the few mistakes made by the guests when Borna Barisic misjudged a cross and Benjamin Henrichs hung up for Christopher Nkunku. The Frenchman then took too long and was eventually blocked by Calvin Bassey.
The visitors’ only goal in the first half came in the form of a header from Connor Goldson, who clearly missed the opposing goal (30′). Otherwise, Leipzig often only became dangerous through crosses, even though the two strikers Yussuf Poulsen and André Silva were not in the starting line-up. A volley by Angeliño following Dani Olmo’s shot was just managed to defuse Glasgow in the sixteenth minute (32′).
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The people of Leipzig slept through the initial phase of the second half, but the Rangers were unable to capitalize on this. Nevertheless, the Scots came twice through Ryan Kent (49th) and James Tavernier (52nd) to end dangerously in the opposing sixteen.
Due to the fact that the BVB conqueror became a bit more offensive in the second half, there were more gaps on the defensive. Nkunku came close to exploiting this, but Rangers keeper Allan McGregor was able to fend off the Frenchman’s long-range shot with both fists (54′).
After that Leipzig opportunity, the guests retreated a little further into their own half and relied more on counterattacks, which worked better overall than in the first half.
Nevertheless, Nkunku had the lead for RB on the foot a little later when he let several defenders and goalkeeper McGregor get out, but then missed the empty goal from 15 meters (71st). Rangers’ strongest player in the second 45 minutes was Kent, whose long-range effort was denied by RB keeper Peter Gulacsi 15 minutes from time.
In the last few minutes, Leipzig turned up the heat once more: First, Nkunku missed the next big chance – this time with a header from close range (79th). McGregor was only able to deflect a shot from Tyler Adams for a corner that would be fatal for Rangers. The guests were able to clear Nkunku’s cross with a header – but right into the feet of Angeliño, who volleyed the ball from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner for McGregor to make it 1-0 (85 ‘).
For Leipzig it was the deserved winning goal, which gives them a comfortable starting position for the second leg in a week. The decision will be made on May 5 at Ibrox Stadium, where Borussia Dortmund’s European Cup season ended in February. Then RB must also face the atmosphere in the Rangers’ cauldron.
The voices of the game
Angel (RB Leipzig): “The team worked hard to win. We had the game under control, only the goal was missing for a long time, in the end we did it. It remains tight and it will be tough in Glasgow. We are going for our goal, the final in Seville , give everything!”
Benjamin Henrichs (RB Leipzig): “Rangers demanded a lot from us, especially in the first half. We did better following the break and created a few chances. We have Angeliño to thank for that shot on Sunday. That put us in a good position for the second leg . It should be our aim to reach the final and we are working hard for that.”
Domenico Tedesco (Trainer RB Leipzig): “A semi-final in the European Cup is not a dream concert. After a tough first half, we had a really good second half. You don’t get many chances once morest opponents like that. We can only learn from this game. Glasgow now have to come back in the second leg, albeit maybe not from the beginning.”
Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Team Manager Glasgow Rangers): “We didn’t create many chances here. But when you concede a goal just before the end, it’s always disappointing. We know what we have to do next week. It will be a different game. We’ll do everything we can to get to the final to achieve. Ibrox will definitely give us energy.”
The tweet regarding the game
That was noticeable: almost gritted teeth
Leipzig delivered a confident performance for almost the entire 90 minutes and were the better and more dominant team overall. Nevertheless, the home side found it difficult to break through the compact and well-organized defensive block of the Scots. Again and once more Leipzig had to use high balls, but tall strikers like André Silva or Yussuf Poulsen only came into the game late. In addition, the conspicuous Christopher Nkunku was able to build on his top performances of the past few weeks – but his chances left a lot to be desired. In the second leg, Leipzig will have to shift up a gear or two, mainly because the Scots will perform differently in their own stadium than in the first leg on Thursday.
The stats: 16
For Leipzig, the win on Thursday was the 16th competitive win in the 2022 calendar year, no other German professional team has more wins to its credit during this period.
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