When it comes to RasenBallsport Leipzig, you should always be a little more cautious story speak than at other football clubs. In such cases, it depends on the nuances, on the mention of a wealthy shower company, for example – and sometimes even a small letter can be decisive: Leipzig goalkeeper Peter Gulasci, for example, was connected virtually from inside the stadium after the game, only the connection hooked up little. It was therefore difficult to understand whether he was saying how nice it was that “history repeats itself”. Or whether he spoke of the fact that “histories repeat themselves”.
Either way, he was right: that Wednesday night is an important part of the club’s history from now on – and it had made history repeated.
When exactly this highly competitive 2: 1 in the semifinals between RB Leipzig and Union Berlin was still tipped in favor of Leipzig, of course, can never be determined exactly. Evidence speaks for the 61st and 62nd minute, in which Andre Silva first scored the penalty to make it 1-1 and then, while Leipzig was still celebrating, Emil Forsberg entered the field. The Swede is – here too the term should be used with caution – a “legend” in Leipzig, at least his coach Domenico Tedesco described him as such after the game.
Forsberg already played with RB in the second Bundesliga, before promotion in 2016. He had very good times in Leipzig, where he was quite clearly the best player on his team, then he went through phases in which he rarely played and over one Change thought. In 254 games, the 30-year-old has scored 57 goals and if one were to pick one that was instrumental in creating a legend, it would be that 2-1 win in the Cup semi-finals – last year.
Forsberg has so far bowed to Tedesco’s principle of rotation without public comments
Forsberg scored against Werder Bremen in the last minute of injury time and ensured that RB Leipzig won a tight game against a fighting opponent. And in this respect, goalkeeper Gulasci would be right if he said “stories”, because the events in the game against Union Berlin were very similar to last year’s episode.
Reached the cup final: Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco (right) and defender Willi Orban shout out their joy.
(Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa)
Back then, like on Wednesday evening, Forsberg came on as a substitute and made the difference. It was noticeable that Leipzig put more forward pressure against Union in the final quarter of an hour, partly because another player, the Swede, moved between positions: Forsberg was sometimes on the left wing and scored a free kick; then he dropped to set up the game; and finally he moved into the box to head in a Benjamin Henrichs cross in the 92nd minute.
“From now on always flank on Forsberg”, that is the lesson from the game, said Tedesco – jokingly, of course. He knows his midfielder’s qualities, but he also knows that Forsberg is not a player who likes to sit on the bench. Complaints from the Swede are almost always to be expected in such cases, but Forsberg has so far bowed to the rotation principle that Tedesco introduced in Leipzig without public comment – it is also quite successful. Leipzig is in the cup final, in the semi-finals of the Europa League and has the best chances in the Champions League in the league, which led to moments of emotion for managing director Oliver Mintzlaff, because in November, before Tedesco’s takeover, “no one had believed the team capable of it”. , as he said.
“I gave him the message that he can decide the game,” said Tedesco about the substitution of the winning goal-scorer. With all the emotions of those responsible and the romantic substitution messages, however, one should not draw parallels to sporting historical events such as the 2014 World Cup final (“Go out and show the world…”), but rather point out that Forsberg’s substitution an indication of the difference in quality, which also limits Leipzig’s victory against Union to very earthly levels.
SC Freiburg are waiting for the cup final on May 21st
The Berliners fought self-sacrificingly and stuck to the tactical principles of their coach Urs Fischer for the entire duration of the game, so that one could almost forget that they shouldn’t really be a competitor for a team like Leipzig in terms of financial conditions. Union has earned its status as a challenging opponent for every German soccer team this season through play, not through the grace of a sponsor.
“It’s a lucky win for RB over 90 minutes,” said Fischer, who was proud of his team. It was also a victory that came about because Berlin’s resources are finite in comparison: while Leipzig first brought in Forsberg and later Youssouf Poulsen and Marcel Halstenberg, Fischer had to use his storm duo of Taiwo Awoniyi and Sheraldo Becker – the scorer – in the 77th minute 1:0 in the 25th minute – dissolve and replace with Andreas Voglsammer and Sven Michel. Both did a good job, but Union had to say that without Becker’s speed and Awoniyi’s power, decisive elements in relief attacks were missing.
Leipzig was able to take advantage of that. The goal in added time had been hinted at in the minutes before, when RB played more and more firmly in the opposing half. In the cup final, SC Freiburg is an opponent who is similar to Union Berlin: Christian Streich’s team will also demand everything from the Leipzigers, in an excellent basic order and with a lot of passion. So the stories from the semi-finals should be repeated on May 21st if RB then wants to make history with the first title.