Immediate Reaction: Real Madrid 2-0 Red Bull Leipzig

Real Madrid 2-0 Red Bull Leipzig (Fede Valverde & Marco Asensio). Here is the full time reaction to the game. Coming up: press conference highlights, player ratings and the ManagingMadrid podcast.

Game two in the Champions League was next for Real Madrid, and it was Red Bull Leipzig from Germany visiting the Spanish capital. The starting team was a typical one, with Nacho Fernández filling in at left-back as he has so often been required to do in the past. Karim Benzema would miss the game due to injury, meaning his space would need to be filled, and Ancelotti went with double trouble as both Brazilians Rodrygo Goes and Vinícius Júnior made up the front three alongside Fede Valverde. Nacho captained the team in the French-mans absence...

You could tell early on that Real Madrid were going to have to suffer in order to accomplish anything in this game. The setting was a dry one, with a foot off of the gas feel to the home side’s play. This allowed Leipzig to create the first chance through Christopher Nkunku, but it was met brilliantly by Thibaut Courtois. This battle occurred multiple times in the first half, but the Belgian came out on top every time. Madrid didn’t really have a sniff for the first 45, and the visitors would rue not being clinical enough against a lethargic Madrid side at times... The first half concluded at 0-0.

The second half was not a whole lot different to start with, as Madrid looked comfortable to keep the game at a reasonable level of intensity. Chances were now scarce for both sides though, and as the game went on it increasingly looked like an inevitable 0-0. With ten minutes to go, Vinícius Júnior paced down the line before picking out Fede Valverde - who managed to twist inside his man before finishing low and giving Madrid an almost surprise lead. This was now something the home side could see out with relative ease - but things would only get better. With barely any time to go, Los Blancos doubled their lead in similar fashion when Toni Kroos set Marco Asensio on the edge of the box. The finish from the Spaniard was even better than the first goal, and put the nail in the coffin for the hopeful Germans. 2-0 the final score. Keep an eye out for the post game content including a Podcast as Kiyan is live in Madrid.