The round of 16 awaits!
RB Leipzig successfully booked their place in the round of 16 in the Champions League after a 2-1 win in Belgrade on matchday 4. This marks the fourth time overall that we will be appearing at this stage of the competition, while RBL have never before managed to qualify for the round of 16 with two matchdays to spare.
Head coach Marco Rose‘s side are eagerly awaiting to find out their opponents in the next round, with the draw set to take place in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday, 18th December (live from 12:00 CET).
After finishing second in Group G, there are five potential opponents in the pot for Leipzig, with four teams from Spain and one from England.
Xavi’s first UCL goal!
Real Madrid (Group C)
- ‘Los Blancos’ finished top of their group, ahead of Napoli, Braga and Union Berlin. They picked up maximum points from their six group stage matches to book their place in the next round. RBL came up against Real Madrid in the group stage in the 2022/23 season.
Leipzig suffered a 2-0 defeat in Madrid after conceding late on, but went on to celebrate a 3-2 win at home against defending European champions Real in a memorable, end-to-end game.
FC Barcelona (Group H)
- The Blaugrana, who are coached by Xavi, have experienced a slight dip in form recently. After losing 4-2 in their top-four clash with Girona on the weekend, Barça suffered a 3-2 defeat against Royal Antwerp in their final Champions League group stage match – Antwerp went into the match sitting bottom of Group H on zero points.
Nevertheless, the Catalans still have plenty of star power in their ranks, especially with striker Robert Lewandowski. Leipzig could now get drawn to face Barcelona for the first time in club history.
Real Sociedad (Group D)
- The Basque side dominated their group containing Inter Milan, Benfica and RB Salzburg, which pundits labelled as a balanced group ahead of matchday 1. Real Sociedad were unbeaten in all six games, winning three and drawing the other three.
RBL have already met the Basque team in the Europa League play-offs in the 2021/22 season, winning 3-1 in Spain and scoring the 1,000th RBL goal in that game, before drawing 2-2 with Sociedad at home.
Atletico Madrid (Group E)
- Atlético Madrid consolidated their spot at the top of the Group E standings on UCL matchday six by beating Lazio 2-0. Antoine Griezmann (five UCL goals) put the “Colchoneros” into the lead early on, before Lino netted the second goal of the game. With the win, Diego Simeone’s side maintain their unbeaten run in the Champions League so far this term, finishing ahead of Lazio, Feyenoord and Celtic in the table.
RB Leipzig beat Atlético Madrid 2-1 in an intense UCL quarter-final during the coronavirus pandemic and booked their place in the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in the club’s history with the victory.
FC Arsenal (Group B)
- Marco Rose said that a possible tie against Arsenal would be a “thrilling contest”, but also a tough one. The Premier League leaders picked up 13 points in the Champions League group stage and topped their group ahead of PSV Eindhoven, RC Lens and Sevilla.
It would be the first clash against Arsenal in RBL’s history.