Wahrscheinliche Mannschaften der UEFA Champions League, Spielstatistiken und LIVE-Blog!

The hosts’ return to form coincides nicely for the visit of the English Premier League outfit to the Red Bull Arena. As one of three sides remaining in the UEFA Champions League with no points to show on the board, Marco Rose’s men will look forward to bringing renewed confidence into the competition following back-to-back victories on the domestic front. Last weekend’s 2-0 win at Holstein Kiel followed an impressive 3-0 DFB Cup triumph against in-form Eintracht Frankfurt and recent memories of five losses in six winless games are fading fast at the Red Bull Arena. “We didn’t manage to play to our full potential in November, both as a team and as individual players,” club captain Willi Orbán explained. “There were a lot of discussions that were had and we remained focused on ourselves.” Leipzig’s travails weren’t helped by a lengthy injury list that continues to include the likes of star turn Xavi, David Raum and Castello Lukeba, among others. “We have been playing for several weeks now with a small squad,” Rose noted. The tactician has had Xaver Schlager available again following the midfielder’s recent recovery from a cruciate ligament tear, however.

Visitors Villa have equally responded to their own poor sequence of form with a couple of wins in the Premier League. A 1-0 victory against Southampton on Saturday came after Unai Emery’s team downed Brentford by 3-1. Prior to that, the Villains were eight games without a win and two without taking maximum spoils in the Champions League. That said, the side from Birmingham are going strongly in continental competition overall and even overcame Bayern Munich earlier in the campaign to give themselves a shot at automatic qualification for the knockouts. “We are recovering some confidence (and) getting more comfortable,” Emery said after his side’s latest success. “A clean sheet is the first objective we are trying to set in each match.” The fit again Amadou Onana returned to the Villa set-up at the weekend but Jacob Ramsey continues his recovery from injury.

Watch: Antonio Nusa – a shining light at Leipzig

Match stats

Šeško has scored three of Leipzig’s four Champions League goals this season. Among teams to have netted more than once, the Slovenian has accounted for a higher percentage of his team’s goals than any other player in 2024/25 (75 percent).

Openda is just one goal (8) behind Šeško (9) in all competitions in 2024/25, but the Belgian is yet to fire in this season’s Champions League.

Leipzig have averaged 386 high-intensity pressures per game in this season’s Champions League – the second-most of any team in the tournament behind Sturm Graz (392.4).

However, Die Roten Bullen’s seven-match winless run is their longest in the Champions League since debuting in the competition in 2017/18.

This will be Villa’s first European away game against German opposition since December 2008, when they lost 3-1 to Hamburg in the now defunct UEFA Cup.

Bailey registered 28 goals and 21 assists in 119 Bundesliga appearances, contributing three goals across eight meetings against Leipzig.

Probable teams

Leipzig: Gulácsi – Geertruida, Klostermann, Orbán (c), Henrichs – Baumgartner, Vermeeren, Kampl, Nusa – Šeško, Openda

Out: Bitshiabu (muscular), Castello (suspended), Elmas (hamstring), Ouédraogo (thigh), Poulsen (thigh), Raum (ankle), Xavi (ankle)

Doubtful: –

Coach: Marco Rose

Villa: Martínez – Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne – Kamara, Tielemans – Bailey, Rogers, McGinn (c) – Watkins

Out: Hause (knee) Ramsey (hamstring)

Doubtful: –

Coach: Unai Emery

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