Werkself beaten 2-0 at RB Leipzig

Alonso made four changes to his team from the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. Jonathan Tah started in defence for Odilon Kossounou. Timothy Fosu-Mensah got the nod over Jeremie Frimpong at right wing-back, with Daley Sinkgraven replacing Mitchel Bakker on the opposite flank. Amine Adli also began in place of Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Nkunku puts Leipzig ahead

Things got off to a rather reserved start at the Red Bull Arena. Alonso and opposite number Marco Rose both opted for 3-4-3 formations and with focus on compact defending. The first big chance came in the 20th minute for the hosts as Nkunku beat Tah to a through ball from Xaver Schlager and tried to get a shot away, but a combination of Robert Andrich and Edmond Tapsoba cleared the danger. But the Leipzig man didn’t make any mistake with his second attempt in the 32nd minute, meeting a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick with his header to put the hosts in front.

Even after the goal, it remained a tactical battle with few attacking moments. Leipzig tended to get into better positions in front of Lukas Hradecky’s goal but the Leverkusen defence was always there to clean up before things got dangerous. Bayer 04 failed to create a chance of their own in the first half.

Werner doubles advantage for leipzig

RB made two changes at the start of the second half as Amadou Haidara and Josko Gvardiol joined the fray. Alonso stuck with his starting XI until the 54th minute when Frimpong was sent on for Fosu-Mensah.

The first chance of note in the second half came three minutes later when Werner’s headed effort rebounded to Szoboszlai just a few yards out, only to be denied by Werkself captain Hradecky. At the other end, Leverkusen’s first and only chance of note fell to Sinkgraven, but his low effort from a narrow angle on the left was saved by Leipzig’s recently signed goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.

Werner then secured the victory for Leipzig with seven minutes to go, running onto Haidara’s pass before finishing into the bottom right corner.

two home games

Bayer 04 play their final group game of this Champions League season on Tuesday, 1 November when they host Club Brugge at the BayArena at 18:45 CET. Leverkusen need to win, combined with an Atletico slip at Porto, to move up to third and progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League. Alonso and his team are then back in domestic action on Sunday, 6 November at home to Union Berlin, who could still be Bundesliga leaders going into Matchday 13. That game kicks off at 15:30.

Match stats:  

RB Leipzig: Nyland - Simakan (Gvardiol 45'), Orban, Diallo - Henrichs, Schlager, Kampl (Haidara 45'), Raum (Halstenberg 70') - Szoboszlai (Olmo 70'), Nkunku (Silva 84'), Werner

Bayer 04: Hradecky - Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie - Fosu-Mensah (Frimpong 84'), Andrich, Amiri (Amiri 65'), Sinkgraven (Bakker 65') - Diaby, Hlozek (Schick 65'), Adli (Hudson-Odoi 77')

Goals: 1-0 Nkunku (32'), 2-0 Werner (83')

Yellow cards: Kampl, Henrichs - Tapsoba, Hincapie, Andrich

Referee:  Sven Jablonski

Attendance: 45,598 at the Red Bull Arena