A furious Erling Haaland decided the round of 16 duel in the Champions League for Manchester City and against RB Leipzig on Tuesday evening (March 14th, 2023). Curious referee decisions also paved the way for the 7:0 (3:0) – the first two goals for the host should not have been there.
“We lost 7-0, it doesn’t feel good. I don’t want to stand here and make any excuses. It hurts. We weren’t there, we didn’t have a chance. It wasn’t good enough. We’re sorry for the fans”Leipzig’s Emil Forsberg admitted honestly on Amazon Prime Video and looked ahead: “Now we have to focus fully on the Bundesliga. That’s the only thing that counts now.” His teammate Benjamin Henrichs aptly summarized: “We were eaten.”
RB coach Marco Rose also took himself on board: “We didn’t have any solution with possession against their pressing, that’s my responsibility too. City were a size too big for us so now is not the time to make excuses.”
RB deep in their own half
Both coaches opted for tactical changes from their previous league appearances. Pep Guardiola deployed four trained centre-backs in defence, while Rose took André Silva out of the team and opted for a 4-3-2-1 system. The more defensive orientation compared to the 3-0 win against Mönchengladbach was also quickly noticeable in the game system.
Similar to the 1-1 win in the first leg, RB retreated far into their own half, leaving midfield to City and facing a lot of pressure early on. Manchester captain Ilkay Gündogan had the first chance of the game after a right cross from Kevin De Bruyne, but put his direct acceptance over the goal (5th). In the 12th minute, Leipzig keeper Janis Blaswich saved against Erling Haaland, who broke free, but who already indicated in this scene that he wanted to do something about the rather absurd discussion about his quality that evening that had recently broken out in England .
Despite 35 goals in 34 competitive games, the Norwegian actually had to put up with the question of whether he was making Manchester City stronger or weaker. Against Leipzig, this suggestive question was clarified within a minute and a half. In the 22nd minute, Haaland put City ahead with a hand penalty, shortly afterwards he headed in the rebound after de Bruyne hit the bar to make it 2-0.
Curious decisions by referee Vinčić
However, both goals should never have happened. Before the penalty Benjamin Henrichs was headed in a head-to-head duel with Rodri in a completely natural hand position from what felt like 30 centimeters from behind. The VAR ordered referee Slavko Vinčić to the control monitor – and he actually felt compelled to award a penalty.
Curious: referee Slavko Vincic decides on a hand penalty for Manchester City against RB Leipzig
The 2-0 was also irregular. Haaland had put pressure on Blaswich, who was conspicuous with very unlucky passes, and then clearly fouled him during his liberation. Vinčić had a clear view of the scene, but let it continue – and was not corrected by the VAR either.
Hard foul on Laimer – but free kick for City
It wasn’t the last absurdities in this round of 16. After Blaswich had at least temporarily prevented the Haaland hat-trick with a good reaction in the short corner in the 32nd minute, Leipzig also countered promisingly. Konrad Laimer broke through on the left, but was knocked down with a crash by goalkeeper Ederson, who stormed out far outside the City penalty area. While debates about yellow or red may have already started in the stands (but it wasn’t a clear emergency brake because there were still defenders behind Ederson), Slavko Vinčić surprised with a free kick – against Leipzig! TV expert Matthias Sammer commented stunned: “It is inexplicable that such catastrophic mistakes are made at such a level.”
Everything was decided before the change of sides. Timo Werner was unable to use a Rodri blunder on the one hand, and Haaland was there again in added time: Rúben Dias headed the ball to the right inside post, the ball tumbled down the line before the Norwegian tried to clear at the far post blocked by Amadou Haidara.
Gündogan – and again and again Haaland
If any optimistic Leipzig fan was still dreaming of new impetus at half-time and catching up in the second half, the topic was over after four minutes: Gündogan danced out two opponents on the edge of the penalty area and completed it with a precise low shot to make it 4-0.
After that it was Haaland’s turn again, but Leipzig’s defensive behavior had long since evaporated: Blaswich saved twice more against the Norwegian and Manuel Akanji to make it 5-0, but when there was still no RB defender in the game, Haaand dusted it off (53rd). The sixth goal conceded in the 57th minute was very similar: Leipzig’s attempts to clear the ball after a corner kick failed again, and Haaland used Blaswich’s high five to score his fifth goal in less than an hour.
Guardiola prevents a possible record
Shortly thereafter, Pep Guardiola ended the Dortmund nightmare by substituting Haaland and denying him the chance to become the first player to score six goals in a Champions League game. Lionel Messi (in 2012 in a 7-1 win over Leverkusen) and Luiz Adriano (in 2014 in Donetsk’s 7-0 win against Borisov) had already scored five times.
In the last half hour without Haaland, City then clearly took their foot off the gas, Leipzig only tried to keep the humiliation within limits. A stroke of genius from De Bruyne with a long shot into the right angle made it 7-0 in the second minute of added time.
Bundesliga in Bochum, cup against Dortmund
It remains to be seen whether this bitter slap will have consequences for the Bulls’ other goals for the season: In the Bundesliga, the game continues on Saturday (March 18th, 2023) at VfL Bochum, in the DFB Cup there is a quarter-final duel against Borussia Dortmund on April 5th at.