RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid: How will Los Blancos fare without key player?

Real Madrid will be hoping that the absence of a key player will not hamper them too much when they travel to face RB Leipzig on Tuesday. Los Blancos cruised through their group stage campaign with six wins out of six and will be looking to maintain that perfect run at their upcoming opponents’ expense. However, Carlo Ancelotti’s side have been dealt a huge blow with star signing Jude Bellingham unfortunately ruled out of this game due to injury and with the English international anticipate to miss at least two to three weeks, it will be interesting to see how his team adjust without having him in the starting XI.

Leipzig, meanwhile, have been plagued with a lack of consistency all season. Marco Rose’s team have won just two of their last seven Bundesliga matches and despite finishing second in their quartet to book their spot in this juncture, have really struggled to keep their opponents at bay. Despite winning against Young Boys and Serbian outfit Red Star Belgrade, both home and away, die Roten Bullen did not look convincing in any of those matches, and in fact, were unable to keep a clean sheet in any of those four victories.

Leipzig’s leaky defense in the Champions League has been an ongoing problem for years

While Leipzig may be “relieved” that Bellingham will not be involved in this game, the fact remains that the German side have not kept a clean sheet in a home Champions League tie in nearly four years. This will be the second consecutive time die Roten Bullen face Los Blancos in the Champions League; last season saw each team pick up one victory in the group stages. Leipzig’s last foray into the round of 16 was nothing short of a disaster. Although they managed to hold Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, the German outfit were humiliated 7-0 in the reverse fixture to ultimately lose the series 8-1 on aggregate.

Leipzig, who are into the knockout rounds for the fourth time in the last five seasons, have won just one of their last three round of 16 ties. They will now need to face a team who are once again, one of the heavy favorites to clinch the coveted title this season. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have featured in every single round of 16 tie dating back over two decades, and have won 11 of their last 13 at this juncture.

Los Blancos come into this upcoming match having thrashed Girona 4-0, with a brace from Bellingham to help Ancelotti’s men move five points clear at the top of the La Liga table. Girona have been one of the surprise packages in Spain’s top flight this season, but the minnows were no match for Real Madrid this past weekend as they were fortunate not to lose by a wider margin.

Despite the blow of losing Bellingham, who sustained an ankle injury during his team’s win on Saturday, Real Madrid certainly have plenty of other options in attack to cause plenty of worries for Leipzig. That includes none other than Vinicius, who scored a hat-trick during his team’s rout of Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup last month, but it will be indeed interesting to see how much the English ace’s absence does impact his team as they look to keep their perfect start in the Champions League going.

Key stats ahead of RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid

• Leipzig are into the knockout rounds for the fourth time in the last five seasons
• However, die Roten Bullen have won just one of their last three knockout ties at this stage
• Real Madrid have lost just one of their last 16 meetings with German clubs in European competition (W11 D4)