Champions League
Spaniard Olmo before a special evening at the Bernabéu
Dani Olmo still has a contract with Leipzig until the summer of 2027 – but with an exit clause. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
For a Leipzig player with a Barca background, the game in Madrid is an extra motivation. But the evening has to be perfect in order to move forward.
“This is the first time that I have the opportunity to do something very special in my home country. I am very motivated. I now want to show what I can do here in Spain,” said Olmo before today’s premier class duel (9 p.m /DAZN) at Real and emphasized: “Of course I hope that we win.”
Key factor
“It will depend on the small details, we have to avoid losing the ball in midfield. We know that we can also attack and cause damage to the opponent,” said Olmo. For Leipzig, “all possibilities are open. I hope that we can make it happen. We’re not afraid of anyone,” said Olmo before the meeting with Real stars Vinícius Júnior or Jude Bellingham. “We have to concentrate on our game and go into the game with our weapons. We have to play between the lines, which is where I feel most comfortable.”
Buddy Xavi
It’s a special constellation for RB’s two key players. Both were trained early on at FC Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy. “Xavi and I are friends off the pitch too. I get on really well with him, we get along really well,” said Olmo, who never made a secret of the fact that he would return to Spain at some point. He still has a contract with Leipzig until the summer of 2027 – but with an exit clause. According to reports it is 60 million euros.
Leipzig is threatened with elimination in the duel for the Club World Cup
A round of 16 exit for RB would finally help Borussia Dortmund secure a place in the 2025 Club World Cup. If the Saxons do not manage to advance against the Spanish record champions after the 0-1 result in the first leg, BVB would certainly be the second German club alongside FC Bayern to take part in the tournament from June 15th to July 13th, 2025 in the USA.
19 teams have already qualified for the Club World Cup, which has been expanded to 32 teams, including FC Bayern Munich. 13 teams secured their ticket by winning between 2021 and 2024 in their continent’s respective Champions League format. Another six are there through their confederation’s four-year rankings.
Leipzig (61 points) is currently seven points behind BVB (68), which will play its round of 16 second leg in the premier class at home against Eindhoven a week later and can hope for the next round after the 1-1 draw in the first leg. A win gives you two points, a draw gives you one. There is another point for each additional round that you reach in the knockout phase. As Champions League winners, Leipzig would automatically be in the USA; if they lost in the final, a maximum of 13 points would still be possible.
Four open UEFA places
UEFA has twelve places available, four of which are still open. One of them goes to the winner of this year’s premier class. The other clubs reach the World Cup via the ranking list. Currently the open spots would go to Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, Juventus Turin and Salzburg. A maximum of two clubs are allowed to participate per country.
“We find the format exciting. It would be exciting to be there at the Club World Cup and then in the country where the World Cup will be played a year later,” commented BVB marketing director Carsten Cramer. The bonus distribution is not yet official.