Hoping to bounce back after Jude Bellingham’s phantom winner and subsequent red card in LaLiga last time out, Real notched an early chance when Vinicius swung a shoulder at Aurelien Tchouameni’s deep cross and looped his effort onto the roof of the net.
The sea of white shirts packed into the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu weren’t to know that Carlo Ancelotti’s side wouldn’t get another look-in before the interval, as the hosts suffered for their lack of a natural striker.
The same couldn’t be said for Leipzig, whose dangerman Lois Openda was heavily involved from the word go. The Belgian fluffed his lines with his right foot from the edge of the box inside a quarter of an hour, and then with his left minutes later after being brilliantly played in by Dani Olmo.
But it was very nearly third time lucky when Openda popped up at the back post with a chest and half-volley, which ruffled the side-netting and sparked frustrated whistles from the Madridistas.
The home side’s half-time change came as no surprise, with Rodrygo coming on to replace Eduardo Camavinga, and the Brazilian’s pace almost got the better of Leipzig as Peter Gulacsi was forced to tip his deflected near-post effort wide.
The opener came just two minutes later as supporters finally witnessed the combination they had been waiting for all evening. Vinicius’ darting run saw him slid in by Bellingham, and an eye-catching finish put Real firmly in control.
Only for a matter of moments, however, as Willi Orbán’s fantastic header set up a nervy last 25 minutes, but the Spanish giants held firm to march on in their bid for a fourth consecutive appearance in the UCL semi-finals.
Leipzig are the first team to stop Los Blancos from winning in Europe this season, but that will provide minimal consolation for manager Marco Rose as he turns his attention back towards the Bundesliga.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Xavi Simons (Leipzig)
