RB Leipzig loses to Liverpool despite fighting spirit

Third game, third defeat: RB Leipzig are still unfamiliar with the new Champions League and are in a crisis in the top flight. Coach Marco Rose's team lost 0:1 (0:1) against favorites Liverpool FC and must now win at Celtic Glasgow in two weeks. Darwin Núñez (27th minute) scored the decisive goal in front of 45,228 fans for Liverpool, who in complete contrast to Leipzig now have three wins from three games.

Rose had described Liverpool as a "board" before kick-off and rated them significantly higher than their previous victorious opponents Atlético Madrid (1:2) and Juventus Turin (2:3). Nevertheless, his team went into the game unimpressed by their zero-point haul and initially met the Reds on equal terms. The last-minute defensive switch - Benjamin Henrichs came on for Lukas Klostermann, who was suffering from a stomach bug - was not noticeable at first.

After two half-baked chances through Benjamin Sesko (7th) with a header and Amadou Haidara (14th) with a shot from distance, Leipzig even came close to taking the lead. After a mistake by LFC goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher, Sesko flicked the ball onto the empty goal from the byline, but missed it by a few centimetres.

RB quickly put that behind them - and were celebrating taking the lead after 26 minutes. Loïs Openda drove the ball into the top left-hand corner from the edge of the penalty area and celebrated. But the Belgian international was offside when Antonio Nusa passed the ball. What happens in such cases afterwards? Of course, the favorite scores. Liverpool took just over a minute to do so.

Following a cross, Mohamed Salah, who was only 1.75 meters tall, headed towards the far corner and Núñez only had to push the ball over the line. The Bundesliga's best defense looked completely disorganized and continued to have problems with crosses. Headers from Núñez (32) and Virgil van Dijk (37) were saved by Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi with strong saves.

It remains unclear why referee Sandro Schärer did not award a penalty in the 38th minute after Willi Orban made contact with Núñez. Leipzig's captain clearly hit the Premier League leaders' striker, and Núñez going to ground early cannot really be an argument against a penalty in this case. Liverpool were now dominant, Cody Gakpo (44) narrowly missing the goal after a one-two with Salah.

Leipzig looked stressed, Liverpool missed great chances. It was Gakpo again (49), whose shot from a few meters was saved by a reflex save from Gulacsi. Meanwhile, the RB defense caused problems for itself with inaccurate passes and inconsistent actions. Liverpool relieved the pressure by limiting themselves to counter-attacks from then on.

That was enough, as Leipzig almost completely ran out of ideas in attack. Sesko was completely submerged, Openda was often sent long balls in vain and Simons repeatedly got stuck with his dribbling. Liverpool were much more thoughtful going forward, with Alecis Mac Allister (70) hitting the crossbar with a long-range shot.

That seemed to wake Leipzig up. Sesko (71') was free to shoot after a pass from Simons, but Kelleher saved at the highest level. A minute later, a deflected shot from Simons sank under the crossbar of the Liverpool goal, but Kelleher was on hand again. Rose made three changes, wanting to revitalize the attack with Christoph Baumgartner and Eljif Elmas. In the end, however, it was not enough to secure their first point.