(Football news) Following their respective 3-1 victories over Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys in their debut match two weeks ago, The Citizens and Die Roten Bullen are currently tied for first place in Group G.
Despite losing some important players over the summer, including Josko Gvardiol to Man City, RB Leipzig has had a strong start to the new campaign, winning seven, drawing one, and losing just one of their first nine games across all competitions.
Die Roten Bullen appeared to be on track to defeat Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on Saturday after goals from Lois Openda and Castello Lukeba gave Marco Rose’s team a 2-0 lead inside the first 26 minutes at the Red Bull Arena. This victory came just over a month after Die Roten Bullen easily defeated Bayern Munich 3-0 in the German Super Cup.
Harry Kane and Leroy Sane’s second-half goals helped Bayern salvage a 2-2 draw, snapping Leipzig’s four-game winning streak in the top division. As a result, Leipzig has dropped to fifth place in the standings, behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen by just three points.
In their previous 17 home games across all competitions since the beginning of the year, Leipzig has won 12 and drawn three, scoring at least two goals on 11 occasions. They will be happy to return to the Red Bull Arena soon.
Die Roten Bullen will seek retribution against the defending champions Man City after losing to the Citizens in the round of 16 last year by a score of 8-1 on aggregate, with a 1-1 first-leg home draw and a crushing 7-0 defeat in the rematch.
Man City lost consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since January of last season after losing their EFL Cup third-round match at Newcastle United and their Premier League match at Wolverhampton Wanderers the previous weekend. Prior to this stretch, the Citizens had only lost two of their previous 41 games.
Wolves earned all three points at Molineux and ended the Citizens’ unbeaten start to the new Premier League season. A Ruben Dias own goal, a second-half winner from Hwang Hee-chan, and a stunning free kick from Julian Alvarez all contributed to Wolves’ success. Wolves also suppressed City’s usual dominance in the final third admirably.
Pep Guardiola’s team can ill-afford another sluggish start if they wish to get back on track against an in-form Leipzig team, before facing Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a Premier League showdown on Sunday. A small chink in City’s armour has been exposed in recent weeks as they have gone behind four times in their last five games, losing twice in this run.
In the Champions League, Man City has been dominant, losing just two of their last 30 games in the group stage and extending their overall unbeaten streak in the competition to 14 games when they defeated Red Star 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium in gameweek one after coming from behind at the half.
The triple winners, however, had not triumphed in any of their previous four excursions to Germany, including both of their previous two journeys to Leipzig. The 1-1 draw from last season was followed by a 2-1 loss at the Red Bull Arena during the 2021–22 Champions League group stage.
Also read: Newcastle United set to face PSG in UCL
