“While I’m not a fan of the Red Bull footy club business model, there are several RB Leipzig players I like who will hopefully be able to spring a surprise today and keep the Real Madrid Champions League machine from churning forward. The Dutchman Xavi Simons is fun to watch, with his craftiness and creativity. The Austrian Xaver Schlager is a feisty defensive midfielder who can put in a crunching tackle and follow it up a with a deft pass.
“I guess what I’m saying is that Real Madrid may have pedigree and superstars like Vini and Bellingham, but Leipzig have got the X-factor.”
Xavi’s an interesting one. Learned his stuff at the Barcelona academy, now into his second spell at PSG but was sent out on loan immediately after rejoining the French club from PSV last summer. Just 20 years old, he’s done plenty of sightseeing in Europe.
And here’s another plug for the brilliant Jonathan Liew. He watched Harry Kane’s Bayern run through Lazio last night. Could Kane’s first trophy be the biggest one?
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to coverage of RB Leipzig’s trip to the Bernabéu. Real Madrid nicked the first leg, with Brahim Díaz’s staggering solo goal giving them a 1-0 advantage heading into tonight. The 14-time European Cup/Champions League winners got through that game without the injured Jude Bellingham, but he’ll be in for this one, even after things got a little bit rowdy on the weekend.
Madrid are obviously one of the favourites to ride the Jubilee Line to Wembley Park in June – they’ve got the goods, glitz and history. But Leipzig, fifth in the Bundesliga, made a game of it in the opening round, with Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin making nine saves to hold the fort. Leipzig’s manager Marco Rose has admitted his side will need a little bit of luck, but he’s bigged up his boys, too. Here’s to a last-16 thriller, with kick-off at 8pm GMT. (Oh, and here’s Daniel Sturridge setting the scene way better than me.)