Jamie Jackson's match report
Here’s the report from our man at the Etihad:
And with that, I’m off. Thanks for reading. Have a good evening one and all.
Jack Grealish speaks, and he’s beaming: “I loved it [his Champions League debut]. I’ve been waiting a while. I couldn’t wait for this game. The game had absolutely everything. We’re delighted to get the win against a good team full of energy and young players. But I’m delighted to come away with a goal and an assist. The ball’s come to me. When I’m in that position coming in from the left I’d back myself against anyone. And the ball hit the back of the net.”
On Pep’s intense tactical talks: “It was defensive. I’m not going to give it away as he might use it at the weekend. He’s just giving out useful information.”
There was a section of this Knowledge on supreme individual feats in heavy defeats. Nkunku’s hat-trick can be added to that list. The flighty forward ghosted into space for all three of his goals. He’s only 23 and didn’t make the grade at PSG. The French talent factory is so impressive. He’s not capped yet but many more displays like tonight’s and he will be.
The other match in Group A between Club Brugge and PSG ended 1-1! What a result for Brugge that is. It’s a good one for City, too.
Full-time: Manchester City 6-3 Leipzig
What fun! City start Group A with a goal-fest, lashing six goals in against a Leipzig side who were highly adventurous if not a little error prone and naive at the back. Grealish got his first Champions League goal, Cancelo scored the games’s best goal and the man who will leave with the matchball saw his team lose by three goals. What a night!
90+3 min: Fernandinho wins the ball back in midfield like a dog after its favourite toy. Then swivels and releases Mahrez on the right with a beautiful long pass. He swivels his hips as he enters the box and lashes a shot at Gulacsi, who saves at the second attempt.
90+2 min: There haven’t been any goals. Boo!
90 min: There will be four more minutes of added time. We’ll likely see a couple of goals, such is the nature of this game.
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88 min: It’s almost S-E-V-E-N! Sterling skedaddles down the left and squares towards Foden, who is this close to poking the ball home. Then Mahrez picks up the ball and fires it back at Foden, but his near-post poke is diverted out for a corner. It comes to nothing.
Updated
87 min: Leipzig win a corner. It’s curled into Poulsen, who is a towering figure. He leaps highest and heads just wide. They’re great fun Leipzig but fun won’t cut it for Marsch if he doesn’t improve results. At least they’re scoring now, though.
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Goal! Manchester City 6-3 Leipzig (Jesus 85)
And it’s six! Cancelo smashes a shot at goal that clatters into a crowd of players in front of Gulacsi, one of whom is Dias. Jesus pounces as the ball squirts clear and hammers a shot from close range into the top corner. There’s a Var check for offside against Dias, but the goal stands.
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83 min: Grealish is given a huge ovation as he is replaced by Gabriel Jesus. Nkunku is given a hearty cheer by the handful of Leipzig fans in the ground as the lethal hat-trick scoring striker (three goals from three shots) is replaced by Gvardiol.
81 min: There are huge boos around the stands at the announcement that the free Manchester City bus into the city centre will not be operating this evening. It’s not actually that far and walking does you good. But anyway. It will have to be public transport, folks.
Leipzig's Angelino is sent off!
79 min: And this is daft. The former Manchester City full-back was on a booking but threw a petulant leg out at current Manchester City full-back Cancelo when he had no chance of winning the ball. Goodbye!
77 min: Some housekeeping. Brobby replaced Olmo just before the Leipzig goal. It seems like three years ago. Leipzig are charging forwards again. They seem to be at their best when they’re two goals behind.
Goal! Manchester City 5-3 Leipzig (Cancelo 75)
You want more goals? Here you go then. Sterling plays a short free-kick to Grealish, who dribbles inside and finds Gundogan. He spins and lays the ball off to Cancelo who, from 25 yards, drives a vicious rising shot into the top left corner. It was like an arrow. Blimey! Football, eh?
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Goal! Manchester City 4-3 Leipzig (Nkunku 73)
What a goal! What a game! Nkunku will be taking the matchball home. Poulsen collects a pass and pops a ball behind Ake to the onrushing Nkunku, who fires across Ederson into the far corner. What a player he is!
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70 min: De Bruyne, who has been excellent despite this being his first game back after injury, is withdrawn to rapturous applause. Phil Foden replaces him. Not a bad replacement. And Sterling is on for Torres.
69 min: Leipzig are still game. Szoboszlai, which has taken me about two minutes to type correctly, dips inside Fernandinho and rasps a shot at goal from 25 that whistles a couple of inches over the bar.
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68 min: Angelino finds space on the left and shapes to shoot but he takes too long to shift the ball out of his feet and fires straight at Cancelo’s outstretched leg.
66 min: City are back on top and Torres has the ball in the net! But he’s flagged offside. It was a wondrous assist from Cancelo, who dissected the Leipzig defence like a surgeon. Such a shame it was chalked off. It was marginal but offside all the same. Var confirms.
64 min: BT Sport have just shown a clip of Guardiola giving one of his Incredibly Intense Pep Talks to Mahrez. When someone is barking at you so fast when you’re blowing bubbles, surely it’s hard to take it all in.
60 min: Now Jesse Marsch makes makes three changes as he looks to chase the game again. Laimer, Silva and Forsberg are taken off. And Haidara, Poulsen and Szoboszlai are on. Forsberg looked to be one of their most dangerous players. Maybe he’s got a knock.
57 min: Angelino is booked for fouling De Bruyne. And Rodri is withdrawn with a knock and replaced by the evergreen Fenandinho. Bernardo Silva has run his race, too. He’s replaced by Gundogan.
Goal! Manchester City 4-2 Leipzig (Grealish 56)
This is a gorgeous goal – and it’s his first in the Champions League. Dias hoofs clear and Grealish darts in behind Klostermann, drops a shoulder and sends Adams skipping past him before curling a delicious shot into the far corner. What an odd game this is. Good fun, though.
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55 min: Leipzig are moving the ball well now and look to be finding their rhythm. The home fans sense the tide is turning and increase the volume.
53 min: De Bruyne, who was miffed by the referee’s role in that last goal and gave him verbals after City conceded, crashes an angry shot wide.
Goal! Manchester City 3-2 Leipzig (Nkunku 51)
Well, this is an odd goal. De Bruyne runs into the referee in midfield as he tracks Laimer. The City player falls over and Laimer has space to run into and find Olmo, who clips a delicious cross on to the head of Nkunku, who loops a header home for his second goal of the match. Game back on!
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50 min: Grealish is fouled for the 9,9999th time in the past week after drawing Adams into a petulant swish of the boot to deck the City man deep in his own half.
47 min: De Bruyne wins a second ball in midfield after Ederson’s long clearance was headed back into midfield. Torres rushes on to it and swivels like an ice dancer before trying to pop the ball off to Mahrez, but his pass doesn’t reach him. It was a lovely turn though. Drew gasps from the crowd.
46 min: De Bruyne sends a majestic pass fizzing through midfield to the onrushing Torres, whose shot is fired straight at Gulacsi.
The second half!
45 min: Peep! We’re back under way again. There’s confirmation that Klostermann was booked for the handball that led to the penalty. Now that does seem harsh. He could do very little about it and Torres’s header was coming from quite some distance out.
Some half-time reading. Here’s our the latest edition of our free and funny football email, The Fiver. I wrote it today, hence why I used that strikeout tool.
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Half-time: Manchester City 3-1 Leipzig
That was a strange half. When Manchester City turned it on they looked like they could leave Leipzig in the dust. But they lost their intensity a bit after going 2-0 up and gave Leipzig a way back into the match. The penalty was a real blow for the visitors. It’s one of those that might not have been given in the Premier League this season but perhaps Champions League Var officials are that bit more fussy. In any case, it will take some effort from Leipzig to come back again. Pep will send his team out with renewed energy after the break.
Goal! Manchester City 3-1 Leipzig (Mahrez 45 pen)
Mahrez smashes the ball into the top-right corner with his left foot. That might be the end of the Leipzig comeback.
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Penalty to Manchester City!
45 min: A Var check results in a penalty for handball given against Klostermann, whose arm was deemed to be in an unnatural position as Torres headed it at it from point-blank range. Harsh but not unexpected.
44 min: Forsberg is growing into this game. The Sweden forward has the vision to find Angelino on the left, but the full-back’s low cross is blocked.
Goal! Manchester City 2-1 Leipzig (Nkunku 43)
Forsberg scoops a delightful cross to the back post, where Mukiele redeems himself with a smart header back to his teammate Nkunku, who heads across Ederson into the far corner from six yards out. Game on!
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41 min: Forsberg runs out of room after nipping in behind Dias and trying to fire a cross back across goal to Silva but he mishits it as he falls towards the advertising boards and Ederson gathers.
39 min: Now this is better from Leipzig. Olmo plays a delicious pass in behind Cancelo to the flying Angelino. He takes one touch and smashes a low cross towards Silva that Ake does well to turn over his own bar from six yards out. Ake clears the first corner to Olmo, whose shot at goal is deflected wide for a corner, that comes to nowt.
37 min: Leipzig are gamely trying to play out from the back but the players don’t look technically good enough to do that against City’s Pep-powered high press. So often they give the ball away.
35 min: André Silva has the ball in the Manchester City net, but Zinchenko held the line perfectly on the far side after the ball was slipped through to the striker from Forsberg. And the flag goes up late. He was half a yard off. Marsch, Leipzig, and this game, really needed that goal.
33 min: Dias wiggles his hips and sends Silva to the wrong fire as City show their superiority with a bit of keep-ball at the back. This is so easy for City, who have officially had 63% possession though it feels like a lot more.
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30 min: Leipzig’s Jesse Marsch era could have got off to a better start.
Goal! Manchester City 2-0 Leipzig (Mukiele OG 28)
This is a horrible own goal. De Bruyne’s twinkling feet take him gliding away from two players on the right before he curls another wonderful cross in to the box that skips up at the hapless Leipzig defender. In a blind panic Mukiele tries to cushion a header back to Gulacsi but guides it straight past him and into the far corner. Deary me.
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25 min: De Bruyne whips a delicious pass in to Grealish, whose volley is blocked by Nkunku. He’s then wiped out and City win a free-kick 30 yards out on the left-hand side. De Bruyne jogs over and fizzes another beautiful inswinger into the corridor of uncertainty, but Ake’s outstretched leg is a couple of inches short of the ball. He was offside, mind.
23 min: Some slick football from Leipzig, with the ball popped through the lines in midfield before Forsberg zips a sharp pass at Silva, who steps over it and lets Nkunku strike the ball behind him. He drags a weak shot wide, though. The flag then goes up for offside against Silva, though he didn’t actually touch the ball in that move.
21 min: Mahrez skips inside and curls a low shot towards the far post, but the ball clips Orban and goes behind for what should be a corner. But the referee says goal-kick. Mahrez is vexed. And rightly so.
18 min: Adams puts Zinchenko under pressure in the corner, forcing the left-back to smash the ball out of play as he falls on his backside. Leipzig have showed plenty of attacking intent but their final ball into the box is coming far too soon; often played in from 35 yards out on an angle. Dias and Ake will gobble up that kind of delivery.
17 min: There was only going to be one winner there. Two standing defenders were left looking up at the City centre-back as he took a gigantic leap.
Goal! Manchester City 1-0 Leipzig (Ake 16)
Nathan Ake steams in to head Grealish’s vicious curling corner into the net with a stonking connection. Gulacsi gets a fingertip to it but he had no chance with that. The crowd erupts!
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15 min: Mahrez provides that quality with a sharp cut inside and cross to the back post where Mukiele clears for a corner. From which …
13 min: It’s gone a bit flat in the stands and on the pitch. Angelino is fouled by Torres and it’s a free-kick for Leipzig 35 yards out. It’s floated in and cleared to the edge of the box, where Olmo lashes a volley over. We need a bit of quality here.
11 min: Torres is bundled over in the box and wants a penalty … but he was half a yard offside when he collected the pass from Grealish. The flag goes up very late, mind. A moment later Zinchenko is booked because his fingertips appeared to touch Dani Olmo as the Leipzig player turned and then fell to the ground. That’s very harsh. They ought to watch their step if the referee is going to be that fussy. The free-kick comes to nothing, though.
9 min: Leipzig have been very smart in the transition when they have lost the ball. Angelino loops a long ball to Andre Silva, who takes a wonderful first touch before turning to race at goal and then seeing the flag raised for offside.
7 min: Dias has found Grealish a couple of times with long cross-field diagonal passes. Klostermann is going to have to be more alert to that ball than he has been so far. On this occasion, Grealish shifts the ball on to his right foot only to see his cross blocked.
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5 min: De Bruyne fires in a low cross from the right that Mukiele reads expertly before clearing long.
4 min: There are some horrible second and third kits this season, and this one of Leipzig’s is right up there. It’s a jumble of lines and colours and hard on the eyes. Adams takes an accidental blow to the mouth and goes off for treatment.
3 min: City get hold of the ball and tap it around for fun. Then Grealish has a little dribble up the left but Leipzig hold their shape and force City backwards.
Peep!
1 min: Both sets of players take the knee to make their stance against all forms of racism and discrimination and the fans applaud. Well done everyone. Then RB Leipzig get the game under way. Leipzig are immediately on the front foot. Angelino lashes a cross in to Nkunku who, under pressure from Ake, sidefoots wide. They didn’t hang around there. A show of intent.
The lights go out at the Etihad and the fans begin a chorus of Blue Moon as the teams trot out. The Champions League anthem quivers through the air as the players line up and “Booooooooooooooo!” Yes, City fans still hate Uefa.
The teams are limbering up in the tunnel at the Etihad. Champions League football is mere minutes away.
Ruben Dias has just been given a Champions League defender of the season award by Uefa head of football, Zvonimir Boban, who was clapped on to the pitch by City fans. Have they buried the hatchet with Uefa? We’ll soon see.
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Sheriff did indeed hold on to that 2-0 lead against Shakhtar to record their first-ever Champions League group stage win. Well done! And Besiktas gave Dortmund a scare with a late goal but Bellingham’s and Haaland’s strikes were enough to give the German side a 2-1 win.
Guardiola has just spoken and explained that both Laporte and Stones picked up injuries on international duty and they’re still trying to overcome them. “The guys who played in the last three games are so important to us,” he said, “but everyone has to start being part of the group for this tough, tough and busy, busy schedule.”
And here’s what he had to say about Leipzig: “They are so intense, with so many transitions. They are so aggressive the way they play. Hopefully we can play good with the ball and win the game. Leipzig are always very good. They have a strong philosophy - young players, dynamic, physical, strong, playing narrow in all senses.”
Leipzig’s players took a brisk stroll through what appears to be a Redrow housing estate and a golf course this afternoon.
A nice matchday walk for our boys in Manchester 🚶♂️
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) September 15, 2021
🔴⚪ #WeAreLeipzig #MCIRBL pic.twitter.com/oVKUzGMESu
Leipzig have made three changes to the side that were walloped 4-1 by Bayern Munich. Jesse Marsch brings in Adams, Forsberg and Klostermann to replace Kampl, Simakan and Szoboszlai. They’ll likely line up in a 4-2-3-1, with Adams and Laimer sitting deep and trying to stop City creating pretty triangles in midfield. City will probably start with some kind of 4-3-3 that may morph into a never-before-seen formation as the game goes on. Who knows with Pep.
In the early Champions League kick-offs, Dortmund are leading Besiktas 2-0 with 16 minutes remaining. And in the battle of the Shs, Moldova’s Champions League debutants, Sheriff, are beating Shakhtar 2-0. What a win that would be if they can see it out. Oh, and Dortmund have just brought on 16-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko. He was born in November 2004. That’s ridiculous.
Tonight’s match is Pep Guardiola’s 300th as Manchester City manager. He’s won 218 of them. Not a bad record. He hasn’t dressed up for the occasion, mind.
Team news
Manchester City: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias (C), Ake, Zinchenko, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Torres, Mahrez. Subs: Carson, Slicker, Walker, Sterling, Gundogan, Jesus, Fernandinho, Foden, Palmer, Lavia.
Leipzig: Gulacsi (C), Klostermann, Orban, Mukiele, Angelino, Laimer, Adams, Olmo, Forsberg, Nkunku, Andre Silva. Subs: Martinez, Simakan, Haidara, Poulsen, Szoboszlai, Brobbey, Moriba, Gvardiol, Henrichs, Kampl.
De Bruyne returns for City. He is among four changes from their 1-0 win at Leicester, with Nathan Ake, Riyad Mahrez and Oleksandr Zinchenko coming in. Neither Laporte nor Stones are on the bench. Phil Foden is back on the subs list, though. So, we’ll see Cancelo v Angelino this evening. Should be interesting. This will also mark Grealish’s first start in the Champions League.
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Preamble
Evening. When the draw for the group stage was made, the feeling among some was that of the English clubs, perhaps it was Manchester City who had landed the toughest assignment. One would expect Club Brugge to prop up Group A, but PSG were finalists in 2020 and Leipzig were semi-finalists that year too. But the departure of manager Julian Nagelsmann, Dayot Upamecano and Marcel Sabitzer to Bayern Munich and Ibrahima Konaté to Liverpool has hit Leipzig hard. They’ve managed just one win and lost three of their opening four Bundesliga matches and were hammered 4-1 last weekend by Bayern. Manager Jesse Marsch’s promotion through the Red Bull stable of clubs hasn’t worked out yet, though he has had to reshape his squad and André Silva, who was prolific at Frankfurt, should prove a threat when he settles in.
So a home win for City should be on the cards tonight. Leipzig have struggled for goals and Pep Guardiola’s side have kept three clean sheets since their 1-0 defeat at Spurs, plundering 11 goals on their way despite not having a proper striker. They’ll also be motivated by the pain of losing to Chelsea in last season’s European Cup final. “We reached the final of the Champions League, so, yeah, it’s a motor [driver],” said Guardiola. Meanwhile, Rodri wants to win it so his family don’t have to tread eggshells around him. “You have three shit days the next days, you cannot even talk to your families and friends,” he revealed. “They are there to support you but your face is not as you want.”
For what it’s worth, I think his family will have a light and breezy Rodri in the house after this particular match. Rúben Dias and Aymeric Laporte have formed a solid defensive partnership (spare a thought for John Stones), Jack Grealish is slowly finding his best form and Bernardo Silva is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance after being given the cold shoulder for large parts of last season. If Leipzig do cause City problems, it will likely come down the left with flying wing-back Angelino, who signed from City on a permanent contract in the summer after a successful loan last season. Kyle Walker beware.
