The UEFA Champions League once more provided us with some exciting and surprising results in the round of 16. Three German teams including Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich all played their parts in the first Leg of UEFA CL R16. Among Europe’s top 5 leagues, only teams from Germany failed to snatch a victory in the first fixture of CL R16. What went wrong with the 3 German giants?
UEFA Champions League: RB Leipzig
Leipzig drew European giant Real Madrid and they were pretty much the underdog for this fixture. Regardless of RM’s status in European football, the Red Bull team had some advantages going into this match.
RM’s Defense Injury Crisis
Real Madrid have already been missing their showstopper goalkeeper, Courtois who’s out for the season. Moreover, Carlo Ancelotti had to be put in a distressful situation with all key center backs out for some time. Anchelotti’s men had to rely on Tchouaméni to play even deeper as a CB alongside Nacho Fernandez who isn’t a regular this season.
Real Madrid’s Missing Star Boy
Jude Bellingham was also a big name missing from Madrid’s midfield with an ankle injury. The talented Englishman is arguably Real Madrid’s most important player this season with 20 goals and eight assists in all competitions. It’s easy to say that Real Madrid needs him for all games if they want to win all trophies.
Home Ground Advantage With No Injuries or Suspension
Marco Rose’s men played at home, with all players available for the match as opposed to Real Madrid. What more would a team need when playing knockout stages of CL?
What Can We Expect From The Second Leg?
The favorites, Real Madrid are still hungry for another win so they continue their run in the CL. However, RB Leipzig has a slim chance still. Only Rudiger is expected to come back from his injury and Bellingham may still miss the game with other key players.
UEFA Champions League: Borussia Dortmund
Could a team be more unlucky? BVB faced off PSV away from home after a win slipped away from them with a controversial penalty. Unlike RB Leipzig, Dortmund was a slight favorite against the exciting Netherlands side. The Germans didn’t lose the game but they felt they should have gotten more than a draw.
Was The Penalty Against BVB fair?
I’m sure many people can agree that Dortmund was unfortunate with the ref’s decision. Should the referee have watched the incident before making his decision, maybe we would be waiting for the second leg with a different outcome from the first.
Hummel, the considerable offender, seemed fumed up with his post on social media, writing:
“What a joke of a penalty against us. Again! I cannot believe there can be decisions like today or against Chelsea or PSG with the VAR.”
BVB is surely more anxious for the second leg to set things right in the second leg.
UEFA Champions League: Bayern Munich
Is there a person not shocked by the current standard of Bayern in Europe? The German giant lost 1-0 against Italian side Lazio. Can anyone write these staffs? Three consecutive defeats for Tomas Tuchel now.
Can Bayern Make a Comeback?
To always be on the safe side, we can’t rule out Bavarians and this is why.
Experience
We all know Bayern Munich is mostly if not all of the time top 3 favorites to win CL season after season. The 6 time CL Champions know what winning and losing means in this competition. Although they haven’t lost a game in the first leg of R16 in UEFA since 2012, Bayern are not planning on letting these surprises get way ahead of them.
Tomas Tuchel
It may seem a little odd that the man who seems to be responsible in the eyes of most can be the reason Bayern will get past Lazio easily. In recent news, Bayern have decided on their current coach. Tuchel is only leaving the club at the end of the season. This could mean that he would want to leave the club on a positive note, just as he was brought in. Already trailing with 8 points in the Bundesliga, knocked out of the German cup, is there any better way to leave the club than with a Champions League trophy? Tomas is as focused as any top manager would right now and it may be what Bayern needs.
Which German team will turn things around and move to the quarter-finals of UEFA CL??
Also Read: Galeno Late Goal Secures 1-0 Win For Porto Over Arsenal In UCL