Leipzig vs Man City LIVE: Champions League result and final score after Gvardiol equalises

RB Leipzig 1-1 Man City: Premier League champions denied in Germany as Gvardiola cancels out Riyad Mahrez opener

Erling Haaland battles with Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol (Reuters)

RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol headed in a 70th-minute goal to earn a 1-1 draw against visitors Manchester City in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old defender bagged the deserved equaliser with a towering header after City’s Riyad Mahrez had slotted in following a Leipzig mistake in the 27th minute.

Leipzig were toothless in the first half but were much improved after the break and outplayed their opponents, who are aiming to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for a sixth straight season.

City have now drawn their last two games after being held 1-1 by Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday while Leipzig’s four-game winning run in the competition came to an end. The return leg is in Manchester on March 14.

Follow all the reaction as RB Leipzig host Manchester City in the Champions League last-16:

RB Leipzig vs Manchester City

• Goal! Josko Gvardiol heads Leipzig level (70 min)
• Goal! Riyad Mahrez fires City ahead (27 min)

[22 February 2023 20:07 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig 0-0 Man City

6 mins: Grealish gets released with plenty of space to run into. The Englishman jinxes inside and finds Mahrez but he takes a poor touch and Leipzig can dispossess him

[22 February 2023 20:03 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig 0-0 Man City

2 min: Still early stages but it looks as if Werner will operate on this left-hand side with Silva on his own up top and Forsberg playing behind the Portuguese striker.

[22 February 2023 20:01 · Ben Fleming]

KICK OFF! RB Leipzig 0-0 Man City

Manchester City get this game underway.

[22 February 2023 19:56 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig vs Man City

The players are in the tunnel and we are just minutes away from kick off!

[22 February 2023 19:49 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig vs Man City

Martin Keown speaking on BT Sport before game: “De Bruyne is a big miss for Pep so it will be interesting to see Grealish tonight - I expect him to play a bit more centrally and Mahrez to keep that discipline on the right but Haaland is the one we are looking to turn up tonight.

“We saw how physical he was against the two Arsenal central defenders - I expect him to do the exact same tonight.

“Don’t underestimate Leipzig, they hardly ever lose at home so I think we’re in for a cracker.”

[22 February 2023 19:38 · Ben Fleming]

Pep Guardiola speaks to BT Sport

“They play with a 4-4-2, all the players and runners inside. Typical Leipzig. I was in Germany three years, if you allow them to run they are unstoppable.”

On dropping Foden: “Phil Foden played really good last game but Riyad Mahrez has played good too.”

(PA Wire)

[22 February 2023 19:36 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig vs Man City

Kevin De Bruyne and Aymerica Laporte will be key figures missing tonight. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Guardiola explained their abscences.

He said: “Kevin and Laporte: illness.

“They are not ready. It is what it is. During the season, unfortunately sometimes that happens.

“[De Bruyne] didn’t feel good right after the game against Nottingham.

“Yesterday Aymer didn’t feel well. Other players are going to play. That happens sometimes.”

(Action Images via Reuters)

[22 February 2023 19:30 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig vs Man City

Man City’s Ederson warming up ahead of kick-off

(PA)

[22 February 2023 19:25 · Ben Fleming]

RB Leipzig vs Man City: Key Stats

Some key stats ahead of tonight’s clash:

- The two previous meetings between RB Leipzig and Manchester City came in the UEFA Champions League last season, with a total of 12 goals being scored across the two matches (Man City 6-3 RB Leipzig and RB Leipzig 2-1 Man City).

- After winning their first three matches in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, RB Leipzig have lost each of their last three without scoring a goal – 0-3 v Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019-20 semi-final and two 0-2 defeats v Liverpool in the last 16 in 2020-21.

- Since the start of last season, only Kingsley Coman (18) has created more chances following a carry than Manchester City’s Jack Grealish (15) in the Champions League. In this same period, Grealish has averaged more chances created from open play per 90 than any other Man City player (2.5).

[22 February 2023 19:20 · Ben Fleming]

Tuesday’s other game saw Italy’s in-form team Napoli take a commanding lead in their last-16 tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Last night’s match report from Germany: