A week and a half after the clear 3-0 cup success, Leipzig had a harder time against Eintracht this time, but they left the field as winners again. As in the DFB Cup, Benjamin Sesko (19th minute) shot Leipzig into the lead before Nathaniel Brown (40th) equalized. Loïs Openda (50th) marked the final score.
Now, at the end of the year, Leipzig, who have already been eliminated from the Champions League without a point after six winless games, face an even tougher opponent on paper. Next Friday (8:30 p.m.) there will be a duel with FC Bayern Munich.
At RB, Xaver Schlager made his starting eleven comeback after 226 days. National player David Raum was back in the squad for the first time. Eintracht coach Dino Toppmöller made five changes after the 2-3 defeat in Lyon. Among other things, Hugo Larsson returned to the starting line-up after his injury.
After 30 seconds the ball landed in the visitors' goal. But Openda, who initially failed with a lob to Kevin Trapp, was offside when Christoph Baumgartner passed the ball, who then scored in the follow-up shot. Sesko's header (19'), who jumped higher and headed in after Trapp's brilliant performance against Baumgartner in a direct duel with the keeper, counted. Two minutes later the Slovenian had it 2-0, this time Trapp was the winner.
During Leipzig's pressure phase, Eintracht slowly woke up. Maarten Vandevoordt first saved against Larsson (30th), then the crossbar prevented Omar Marmoush from equalizing from a free kick from 17 meters. When Can Uzun skillfully passed the ball on to Brown, who had started, he shot from the left from 15 meters and scored to make it 1-1 (40th). Vandevoordt stretched in vain.
After the change, the hosts again got off to a better start. Openda was wide awake after a corner and shot the ball extended by Baumgartner from half-left close range into the short corner to make it 2-1. But Eintracht remained dangerous and repeatedly caused problems for the RB defense.
Benjamin Henrichs saved a header from Arthur Theate (74') just in front of the line. Afterwards, Marmoush (75th) had the chance to equalize, but was offside. On the other hand, Nusa found his master in Trapp (78th). The final phase developed into an open exchange of blows.
No dreamless
Before the game, RB was given a home game in the quarter-finals in the DFB Cup draw, but long-term opponents VfL Wolfsburg are not necessarily considered dreamless. “We have to do a lot of things much better against Wolves than we did last time, be it in the DFB Cup or in the Bundesliga,” said RB Sport managing director Marcel Schäfer after the recent 5-1 defeat in the league against his former club. In the previous season, the Saxons failed in the second round of the cup after a 0-1 defeat in Wolfsburg.