VfL Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig play against each other twice in just 26 days. And for the second time the struggling outsider wins.
RB Leipzig lost to struggling VfL Wolfsburg for the second time in four weeks. 25 days after being eliminated from the DFB Cup, Marco Rose’s team also lost 1:2 (0:1) in the Volkswagen Arena and thus fell out of the Champions League places in the Bundesliga.
This time too, VfL took the lead early in front of 25,350 spectators: Jonas Wind scored 1-0 in the 9th minute. Leipzig dominated this game, Leipzig ran relentlessly. But just 14 minutes after Yussuf Poulsen’s deserved equalizer (52nd minute), the Brazilian Rogerio (66th) scored to make it 2-1 for Wolfsburg. This ended a negative series of five Bundesliga games without a win for the Volkswagen Club.
Coach Niko Kovac always answers the most exciting question at VfL these weeks before kick-off: who is playing, or rather: who isn’t playing? The former Bayern coach in Wolfsburg has been criticized for the constant change of tactics and personnel.
This time Maximilian Arnold had to come out again after being benched against Werder Bremen (2:2) and returning to the starting line-up in Mönchengladbach (0:4). The 29-year-old is particularly critical of Kovac’s rotations and dealing with the club’s captain, homegrown player and Bundesliga record player is also a particularly political issue in Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg give everything
The coach tried to brush this topic off the table before the game (“We don’t roll out the lineup”). But the discontent of many fans and the dissonance with some players can no longer be overlooked.
After all: Wolfsburg showed a very committed and sometimes passionate performance against Leipzig. They threw themselves into every shot on goal and fought duels with great physical effort. After 20 minutes, that alone hardly helped. From then on, Leipzig’s advantages in terms of speed, technique and playing system were obvious.
Christoph Baumgartner (20th), Poulsen (20th), the almost unstoppable Lois Openda (27th) and Benjamin Henrichs (39th) missed good opportunities to make it 1-1 before the break. And after the equalizer, Openda (56th/60th) and Poulsen (60th) created even greater opportunities. The guests should have been leading long ago in this one-sided game when they suddenly found themselves trailing again.
After the 1:2 it was more difficult for them than after the first goal they conceded. Leipzig’s attacks were no longer as compelling in the last 20 minutes. Openda once again missed the best chance to make it 2-2 (79′).
The 38 million euro purchase from Belgium was in every respect the most striking player of the game. Because of his pace, his chances – and because of a scene in the 31st minute. After a duel with Wolfsburg’s Sebastiaan Bornauw, the referee initially decided on a penalty for VfL. However, according to the video images, he took it back and showed Openda the yellow card for a swallow. This action fit RB Leipzig’s entire afternoon.
Source: Stern
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