The curtains closed on this season’s Champions League campaign on Tuesday night as RB Leipzig ran out 3-0 winners in the second leg of our Round of 16 tie to progress 4-0 on aggregate.


Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, an uphill task quickly turned into a mountain to climb as the Bundesliga challengers scored twice in the first 21 minutes, leaving us 3-0 down on aggregate and needing three goals to go through.

We did just that against Ajax to reach the final last season, but there was no repeat of that amazing night in Amsterdam as RB Leipzig wrapped it up three minutes from time.

Chasing goals in this second leg, Jose Mourinho, already without the likes of Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, was handed another blow with another attacking option, Steven Bergwijn, injured at Burnley on Saturday. Davinson Sanchez also picked up a late knock which meant Academy defender Malachi Fagan-Walcott taking his place on the bench for the first time – he would later make his debut.

We looked lively from the off – Erik Lamela inches away from Dele’s cross – but we were dealt a blow on 10 minutes when RB Leipzig skipper Marcel Sabitzer extended his team’s aggregate lead to 2-0 with a low drive from 20 yards that Hugo Lloris got fingers to but couldn’t keep out.

Timo Werner had a goal disallowed for offside but it was soon 2-0 on the night, 3-0 on aggregate as Angelino got away down the left and fizzed in a cross met by Sabitzer’s angled header that crept home at the near post. The home side continued to press as Werner tested Lloris before curling over. Could we get ourselves back into it before the break? Giovani Lo Celso came closest, whipping in a curler that Peter Gulacsi tipped away.

There were fewer chances in the second half. Patrik Schick and Lucas exchanged shots from the edge of the box and Werner missed the target from distance after driving forward. Our best opportunity arrived on 74 minutes as Lucas broke left side and crossed for Dele, who, under pressure, placed his effort straight at Gulacsi from 14 yards.

RB Leipzig added their third on the night in the 87th minute. Emil Forsberg had been on the pitch for around 40 seconds when Angelino’s cross was initially met by Tyler Adams and the loose ball landed on a plate for the substitute to slot home with his first touch from 10 yards.


Key moment

RB Leipzig’s first goal was tough to take after a bright start, but essentially didn’t change the fact that we needed two goals on the night to go through. However, the second goal 10 minutes later, again scored Marcel Sabitzer, started when we lost possession deep in RBL’s half, and was a hammer blow, one that meant we needed three goals to progress.

Jose’s view


Jose Mourinho said: “The players were on their limits fighting until they could but also from the mental point of view, the emotional point of view it’s very, very difficult to be on the pitch, to know that it’s a really difficult target to achieve. In the second half, the players struggled but they gave everything they could, everything that was in their limits, then Giovani with problems and you can see the way Lucas, Dele, Lamela finished the game – really, really tired. It’s really hard. They were very intense, they were very physical, the rhythm of their game was very strong. We had an opportunity to score, I thought it was going to be an own goal – I saw the ball inside, we had that chance – then they go there, they score and after that it was really hard.”