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Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 RB Leipzig, Princes Park
(Neymar 11 ‘pen)
At the elite level, world-class clubs need an elite striker to constantly find the target.
And as Erling Haaland raged in Dortmund, RB Leipzig licked their wounds after an impressive Champions League performance against Paris Saint-Germain was disappointed by a lack of firepower up front.
Last season, Timo Werner’s goals suggested that Leipzig was about to join the European elite. However, if he does not replace the German international, it is possible that he will leave the tournament early this season.
Leipzig failed to turn a dominant performance into goals as an early penalty from Neymar sealed PSG a 1-0 win.
No clone of Werner
Julian Nagelsmann has experimented with a few different tactics to mask Werner’s loss of 34 goals from last season.
Yussuf Poulsen has often led the line, but has never been a prolific shooter, while midfielders Emil Forsberg and Dani Olmo have spread further afield as unorthodox forwards.
However, both Poulsen and Forsberg were particularly guilty of throwing high and wide opportunities as Leipzig controlled the game and created a series of opportunities after an early setback.
And Alexander Sorloth returned to stay on the bench and failed to impact in the last 15 minutes. The € 20m signing was meant to replace Werner, but so far he has struggled to adjust.
Emil Forsberg reacts after RB Leipzig miss another good opportunity against PSG.
Defensive setbacks continue
It doesn’t help much when his star central defender is also struggling to stay in shape. Another error by Dayot Upamecano led to the first game when the Frenchman gave the ball to the studs playing from behind.
Ángel Di María ran into the area to earn the penalty for Neymar to convert in the 11th minute, although Nagelsmann was furious with the decision to award the penalty.
“The penalty was a joke, there was no contact,” Nagelsmann told Sky as replays showed that there was minimal contact in the Marcel Sabitzer challenge.
However, although Leipzig were the superior team for the remainder of the match, PSG were able to sit deep and absorb Leipzig’s attacks with a minimum of fuss.
Neymar scored the decisive goal for PSG against RB Leipzig.
Mastery does not equal goals
“We were the best team. PSG had no chances outside of the penalty,” continued Nagelsmann.
“Now we have to win the games we have left and hope that PSG doesn’t win both.”
The defeat saw PSG jump Leipzig to second place on goal difference. And with Manchester United almost guaranteed a place in the knockout stage, qualification is out of the reach of the Bundesliga.
Despite the bullish front, Nagelsmann will be concerned that his team will not be able to transfer their dominance to goals and it is a problem that does not seem to go away at this higher level.
The failure of his management to find him a true replacement for Werner could cost Leipzig a place in Champions League knockouts and Nagelsmann will have to conjure up his own solution if he wants to continue the club’s rise on the European stage.
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