RB Leipzig fend off Manchester United to reach last 16

RB Leipzig 3-2 Manchester United, Red Bull Arena
(Angelino 2', Haidara 13', Kluivert 69' — Fernandes pen 80', Konate og 82')

If RB Leipzig had been looking to exact the perfect form of revenge on Manchester United after their embarrassing 5-0 defeat in the reverse fixture, they could have done far worse than making Angelino the architect of their opponent's downfall.

The Spanish left-back is on loan from United's arch rivals Manchester City, and his efforts would have cheered not just fans of the German side, but those from the blue half of Manchester, too.

By the end of this match, Angelino's contribution of a goal and two assists was enough to get his side over the line. But only just.

Julian Nagelsmann's men were perhaps in the fortunate position of knowing exactly what they needed from this match: only a win would guarantee their place in the round of 16, meaning they could afford to take the game to the visitors.

Not that a Nagelsmann team needs an excuse to attack, and they made their mark on this encounter from the start, with Angelino giving them the lead with less than two minutes on the clock.

Marcel Sabitzer fizzed in a precision cross from the right, which arched behind a static United backline, and the Spaniard was in oceans of space to drill in the sweetest of left-foot shots past an exposed David de Gea.

United, so intent on stopping the Leipzig threat through the middle, neglected to cover the wings, giving far too much freedom to the marauding Angelino and Amadou Haidara.

"We analyzed that there will be more space for the low crosses," Nagelsmann said after the match. "And we did it very well. Yesterday we talked about different formations of Manchester, and then we created a plan (...) and we found the spaces very well."

Leipzig's second goal was, in some respects, a reverse copy of the first. Instead of the ball swinging across from right to left, this time it went from left to right, as Angelino – again afforded too much space by Aaron Wan-Bissaka – provided the cross for an unmarked Haidara at the back post, who volleyed home.

The hosts would have been three goals to the good before half-time had the video assistant referee not chalked off Willi Orban's header for offside, a let off for the sleepy United defence when the game could so easily have been put to bed.

"At the end Manchester believed there could be a chance to get the equalizer," Nagelsmann said. "We had to find the structure again. But we were the more dangerous team."

Difficult group

From the outset of this Champions League campaign, Leipzig knew they would have their work cut out to get out of the group stage and emulate last season's run to the semi-finals.

Drawn together with the side that knocked them out in Lisbon, Paris Saint-Germain, and United, a club with a storied history in this competition, it felt and looked at times as though this group would prove too tough a task for the German side.

But in the city where the composer Johann Sebastian Bach spent his latter years, Nagelsmann has created a fine-tuned orchestra of his own. As animated as ever, he conducted proceedings from the touchline, with midfield maestro Emil Forsberg setting the tempo while his teammates hassled and harried their opponents.

"What happened last season hasn't happened this season, losing points against weaker teams," Nagelsmann said. "The players showed the right attitude and the right character, especially towards the end when they got close again. I think we have matured as a team."

The visitors had barely threatened in the first-half, and when substitute Justin Kluivert did add a third goal on 69 minutes, finishing a deflected Angelino cross that Harry Maguire had left for De Gea, the Leipzig bench rushed onto the pitch to mob the goalscorer, sensing their night's work was done.

It wasn't, though, as United – reinvigorated by the introduction of Donny van de Beek at half-time – finally found their feet.

A Bruno Fernandes penalty, awarded for a foul on Mason Greenwood, gave the visitors hope on 80 minutes. And when Paul Pogba forced in a header off the thigh of Ibrahima Konate two minutes later, there were a few understandably anxious faces.

That set up a tense finale, but Leipzig held on, surviving one last scare in stoppage time as Nordi Mukiele nearly put the ball through his own net. The final whistle was greeted with an explosion of joy and relief, another milestone for Nagelsmann and his young team.

"It's not obvious that a team like us can make it," he said. "It's an outstanding performance that the players showed on the pitch. As a coach I can only wish that this continues."