Pre-season Win: Eljif Elmas Makes the Difference Against Hard to Beat Rival
RB Leipzig won 1-0 against SV Babelsberg | Maarten Vandevoordt and Assan Ouedraogo made their RBL debuts
A pre-season win for the Red Bulls!
Just around a week before RB Leipzig begin their US Tour (July 28 - August 04), our team successfully kicked off the pre-season preparations with a win against Regionalliga outfit SV Babelsberg. Midfielder Eljif Elmas secured the win after heading in a set piece taken by Lionel Voufack from short distance.
Our new players Assan Ouedraogo (of whom Marco Rose said: "He was really fun to way today") and Maarten Vandevoordt made their debut, Kevin Kampl walked out as our team captain, and Marco Rose was satisfied with the 90 minutes played by his players, who played their first match wearing the new PUMA home jerseys.
Marco Rose
- "I'm happy with how we performed today. In general, the first two weeks of preparations were pretty energetic. The younger players push the pedal to the metal and the more veterans follow suit. That's something that played out today as well. That was grown-up football. We pressed well, won the ball back well, and gave very little away. In the end, we deserved to win, it capped off a good week for us."
Match Facts
First Half Lineup:
Maarten Vandevoordt - Leon Koß, Jamie Schuldes, Mohamed Simakan, Lionel Voufack - Kevin Kampl, Winners Osawe - Faik Sakar, Assan Ouedraogo - Eljif Elmas, Robert Ramsak
Second Half Lineup:
Leopold Zingerle (80' Fernando Dickes) - Lenny Hennig (80' Amos Gerth), Chad Bitshiabu, Lukas Klostermann, Jonathan Norbye - Amadou Haidara, Laurin Schößler - Viggo Gebel, Assan Ouedraogo (60' Joyeux Masanka Bungi) - Eljif Elmas (60' Cenny Neumann / 80' Maddox Stadel), Nuha Jatta
Goal:
1-0 Eljif Elmas (45'+3)
Lois Openda sat with the training staff
Our striker, Lois Openda, was there for the friendly match after arriving from his well-deserved vacations once his EURO 2024 adventure with Belgium came to an end. He didn't play, but was a surprise guest for the team. "The plan with Lois is for him to join training just before we go on the US Tour. Maybe he'll be ready to join a couple of days before. We were all really pleased with his visit. He's always one for a good mood and put a smile on his teammates' faces."
