Round of 16 spot confirmed!

RB Leipzig have booked their place in the last 16 of the Champions League after we defeated Crvena zvezda 2-1 and Manchester City beat Young Boys 3-0.

Leipzig put the pressure on Zvezda from the word go, with our first big chance coming in the eighth minute. Xavi picked the ball up in midfield and jinked his way into the Red Star box, where he curled the ball past the Zvezda keeper to give us an early lead. The hosts immediately went down the other end of the pitch and Janis Blaswich had to gather a dangerous-looking cross from Srdjan Mijailovic. After that, it was all Leipzig again.

Both sides had really good chances just before the break. Lois Openda couldn't quite dribble round goalkeeper Omri Glazer, before Blaswich had to make a first-class save at the other end of the pitch to prevent Osman Bukari from getting Belgrade back on level terms (44’). The goal would have been disallowed for offside, however. Barely a minute later, Emil Forsberg found himself in space in the Zvezda box, but his effort went just wide of the post.

The second-half was a much more open affair. Belgrade played more attacking football, but they didn’t pose a real threat. It was a different story for RBL. Benjamin Sesko’s effort from distance crashed against the post and Openda was denied by Zvezda's goalkeeper after getting on the end of a David Raum cross (51’/53’). However, there was no saving Lois’ shot into the bottom left corner in the 77th minute after the Belgian was played through on goal by Xaver Schlager. The game was far from over, however. Zvezda went straight down the other end of the pitch and put a dangerous ball into the box, which deflected off Benjamin Henrichs and into the Lepzig goal (81’). Blaswich made another important save from close range right at the death to prevent Peter Olayinka from drawing Zvezda level, which helped secure the three points for Leipzig.