Real Madrid and RB Leipzig are looking for a ticket to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. After 0-1 in the first leg, the Germans have the obligation to win at the Santiago Bernabéu if they want to stay alive in the competition.
The match will be a duel between two young talents: Jude Bellingham y Xavi Simons. The Englishman has been the best player in the Spanish league at the start of the season, scoring 16 goals and giving 3 assists. In the Champions League he has not disappointed either, scoring 4 goals and 3 assists in 5 games.
Ancelotti has invented a new position for himself: in midfield, without as many defensive responsibilities as in Dortmund and with freedom to arrive and move. Bellingham, although he was already a goal-scoring midfielder, is offering surprising success in front of goal.
Bellingham missed the first leg due to injury, but Brahim Díaz was a ‘luxury substitute’ scoring a great goal that gave Madrid the victory. Xavi Simons put in a good performance, but it was insufficient for Leipzig to travel to Madrid with a bit of an advantage.
The Barça youth player is one of the sensations of the German club’s season. After leaving PSG, Simons revolutionized the Eredivisie, becoming the competition’s top scorer as a ‘rookie’. The Dutchman scored 19 goals and 8 assists in 34 games with PSV, playing somewhat more advanced than in his previous stages.
Xavi Simons, still 20 years old, has 6 goals and 8 assists in this Bundesliga, and has also become a regular in Ronald Koeman’s Dutch team. Simons already had minutes in the World Cup in Qatar with Van Gaal, but this season he has begun to be a fixture in Koeman’s eleven during the qualifiers for the next Euro Cup.
Precocious talents
Bellingham and Xavi Simons are two of the greatest young talents in the world. Since last season, they are the two most decisive under-21s: the Dutchman has scored 54 goals in 81 games, while the Englishman has scored 49 in 72.
Both players are starters in the second leg of the round of 16. Simons has the opportunity to become Leipzig’s leader to eliminate Real Madrid.
