2022-23 UEFA Champions League knockout stage team preview: RB Leipzig
IN BRIEF
Manager: Marco Rose
Group stage performance: 2nd (LLWWWW - vs Celtic, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk)
UEFA Champions Leagues/European Cups: 0
Last season’s performance: Groups
SO FAR…
RB Leipzig qualified for the knockout stages of this season’s UEFA Champions League with four successive victories to finish their campaign, including a win against reigning champions Real Madrid.
Their season started badly in all competitions, despite winning the DFB-Pokal and finishing last year strongly, so Domenico Tedesco, after back-to-back defeats to start the group stage campaign, including being hammered by Shakhtar Donetsk at home, who were obviously depleted after several departures and lacking preparation due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was sacked by the club.
Tedesco was replaced by Marco Rose and have immediately improved almost beyond recognition and certainly beyond how much Tedesco had initially improved them last year, after the failed appointment of Jesse Marsch.
The club are efficiently well run and are aware that Christopher Nkunku and Konrad Laimer will be departing to Chelsea and Bayern Munich at the end of the season but both players are instrumental and were instrumental in their group stages. They will be key to see how far Leipzig go in the competition, as well as they can mount a serious challenge to Bayern at the top-of-the-table.
WHAT ARE RB LEIPZIG’S CHANCES IN THE KNOCKOUT STAGES?
Under the management of Marco Rose, RB Leipzig will be confident of posing a serious threat to Manchester City in the Last 16. Usually Manchester City are the competition’s favourites and they are once again but this is a City team that are seemingly going through transition and could well struggle to cope with a genuinely sophisticated but aware team.
Leipzig’s impressive form since before and after the FIFA World Cup and winter break has been built upon an ability to balance their plethora of potent attacking options as well as a stubborn defensive foundation.
For example, they returned from the FIFA World Cup break with a 6-1 demolition of struggling Schalke away from home before backing that up with conceding just two goals in their next three matches in all competitions, conceding just 1 shot on target across two matches against Hoffenheim and Cologne.
A 4-2-2-2 system with Josko Gvardiol and David Raum supporting the left-hand side of attack and the attack boasting any four of Dominik Szoboszlai, Dani Olmo, Timo Werner, Andre Silva, Christopher Nkunku, Yussuf Poulsen or Emil Forsberg is going to be difficult for any side to tactically cope with.
ODDS TO WIN THE 2022-23 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 125/1
Odds used are the best at Oddschecker at the time of writing
