RasenBallsport Leipzig – Manchester City: A Game Of Two Halves (1-1)

Leipzig and Manchester City played out an entertaining draw in the first leg of the Champions League encounter. Pep Guardiola's team were quick to get out of their blocks and took a deserved half-time lead. However, Leipzig demonstrated their ability in the second half, with City pinned back and unable to mount a comeback.

Tactical analysis and match report by Rahul Madhavan.

After being knocked out in the group stages of the Champions League last season, RB Leipzig are back on the big stage and the Red Bull Arena is undoubtedly buzzing once again. Despite a dismal start to his tenure, Marco Rose has weaved his magic, which has, in turn, invigorated the squad.

Leipzig’s eighteen-game unbeaten run was put to a halt by an in-form Union Berlin side, but they bounced back with a comfortable victory over VfL Wolfsburg, proving the defeat was just a minor blip.

Rose has shifted between a back five and a back four system in recent weeks, but he opted for the latter this time around. Janis Blaswich started in goal, with Lukas Klostermann, Willi Orban, Joško Gvardiol, and Marcel Halstenberg comprising the back four. Konrad Laimer and Xaver Schlager played as the double pivot. Emil Forsberg, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Timo Werner started ahead of them, while André Silva kept his place upfront.

Manchester City, on the other hand, have seen it all in this competition except for the trophy itself. However, a new season offers yet another opportunity to reach for the stars in Europe’s most prestigious competition. They resurrected themselves in the Premier League with a win over Arsenal and reached the summit as a result. But that . . .