Real Madrid drew with Leipzig with Vini Jr.’s goal. and advance thanks to victory in the first leg.
Real Madrid was held to a draw by Leipzig in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 and took advantage of the 0-1 score in the first leg to win a ticket to the quarterfinals. Vini Jr. put Madrid ahead in the 65th minute, but three minutes later the German team equalized. Madrid withstood the pressure until the last minute and will take the draw on March 15 in Nyon. Santiago Bernabeu
A packed house enjoyed another spectacular night in Europe for the club’s 122nd birthday. The match started with excitement and tension. The first chance belonged to Ancelotti’s team when Tchouameni’s cross was missed by Vini Jr. use shoulder to block (12 minutes). Leipzig responded immediately with a few lightning-fast counter-attacks, but both times Openda couldn’t find the target. The Whites patiently built up play but the Germans left no space in defense and tried to punish the hosts with quick transitions. Marco Rose’s team came close to opening the scoring on two occasions before the break. First was Simons’s curling shot that Lunin pushed away, then Openda’s powerful shot narrowly missed the left post. The game started in the second half and Madrid began to enter the opponent’s penalty area more often. In the 63rd minute, Carvajal passed the ball neatly to Rodrygo, but Rodrygo’s shot was blocked by Gulácsi. But with the next move, Real Madrid made no mistake. Kroos broke up play as Leipzig were attacking and the German passed the ball to Bellingham, who ran across the field before slipping on Vini. Jr. and the Brazilian scored with an impressive finish in the first time (65′). Madrid booked their place in the quarter-finals. The visitors led 1-1 in the 68th minute when their corner was only half-taken and Raum brought the ball back into the box for Willi Orban to curl a low header into the bottom corner of the net. The game opened up at this stage, and on one occasion Valverde tried his luck with a fierce shot from outside the box. In the 81st minute, Orban’s header narrowly missed the post. Seven minutes later it was Rodrygo’s turn to come close. After a beautiful technical play, the Brazilian was unable to hit a shot with his right foot over the goalkeeper’s head. The Germans tried to force extra time and Dani Olmo came within inches of doing so, but his lob attempt went over the crossbar. Ancelotti’s team maintained their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Nacho, 350 matches with Real Madrid: “We have achieved our goal and we must be satisfied”
“When things don’t go your way, you have to fight. Playing games like today helps you improve and learn,” the captain said.
Nacho Fernández played against Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabéu in his 350th match for Real Madrid. The club captain, who is now in his 14th season with the club had this to say: “It wasn’t our best game of the season, but we achieved our target of getting through type. Sometimes you have bad games. They were amazing and we played well. We have to be satisfied because we have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.”
“Overall this was not a good match. Not from the start, in the second half or when we were ahead, we couldn’t resist them. They had a lot of potential, they appeared very quickly and it wasn’t our best day. But the goal has been achieved and we have to keep working, no one said it would be easy.”
A difficult victory
“When things don’t go your way, you have to fight. Playing games like today helps you progress and learn. Now we have to focus on the next item.”
Draw in recent matches
“It’s a really long season and we have a lot of games left to play. We are in a very good position. We’ve just reached the quarter-finals and in the National Championship we have a cushion which I think is quite good. Today seems like a drama because of the performance we showed, but we have to stand up and be proud of ourselves because we have made it to the next round.”
Are there any priorities in the quarterfinals?
“The important thing is that we are in a difficult competition like the Champions League and at the same time it is very special for Real Madrid as a whole. The goal has been achieved.”
In 350 appearances for the club, Nacho has won 24 trophies: Champions League (5), Club World Cup (5), Spanish Super Cup (5), Uefa Super Cup (4), LaLiga (3 ) and Copa del Rey (2). He is the longest serving member of the club’s first team and has made 232 appearances in the league, 66 in the Champions League, 40 in the Copa del Rey, 7 in the Spanish Super Cup and 5 in the Club World Cup . . The year he played the most matches was last season (44) and the team he faced the most was Atlético Madrid (18).