Champions League
Leipzig struggles with prevented leadership: “wrong decision”
Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko (l) scores a goal, but it is disallowed due to offside. photo
© Robert Michael/dpa
Less than two minutes after kick-off, Benjamin Sesko made it 1-0 against Real Madrid – but the goal didn’t count because of offside. Those responsible at RB Leipzig react differently.
A goal after 97 seconds in the round of 16 Champions League, dream start against Real Madrid – but Benjamin Sesko’s goal for RB Leipzig didn’t count.
To the great incomprehension of sports director Rouven Schröder. “I don’t know what we did wrong that we didn’t get the goal, that was a bad decision. It would have been a completely different game if it had been 1-0,” complained the 48-year-old.
The referee team from Bosnia-Herzegovina led by Irfan Peljto ruled the scene offside and was not corrected by video referee Pol van Boekel from the Netherlands. Sesko was not offside when he headed the ball – and Benjamin Henrichs, behind goalkeeper Andrij Lunin, was uninvolved. Coach Marco Rose said after the 1-0 defeat on Tuesday evening: “I have no idea what was whistled, it wasn’t offside, it wasn’t a foul.”
Rose praises his team
The 47-year-old still “didn’t want to make a referee story out of it.” What is more important to him is insight. “When he looks at it, he admits the mistake. If he does it, then I’m fine with it too. I make mistakes too, sometimes two or three a day. The important thing is that you own up to it.”
Rather, Rose praised his team’s strong performance – and Brahim Díaz’s “dream goal” for Real. “He does it wonderfully, you have to accept a goal like that,” said the RB coach and announced a similarly courageous performance for the second leg on March 6th at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. “We’re going there to take the next step in development as a team. We definitely want to show ourselves and be the best possible, most difficult opponent.”
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t expect anything to be a sure-fire success either. “We have to be careful in the second leg. RB Leipzig is a team where you have to suffer. We now have a small advantage and can then count on our stadium.”