Spotlight on... RB Leipzig

We resume our Champions League campaign on Wednesday night as we welcome RB Leipzig to N17 for the first leg of our round of 16 tie (8pm kick-off).

This will be our first-ever meeting with the German outfit with the match also set to be their first-ever competitive game in England, as well as their maiden game at this stage of European football’s elite club competition.

Team news

Defender Dayot Upamecano is suspended for this game after accumulating three yellow cards during Leipzig's group stage campaign.

Meanwhile, fellow centre-backs Ibrahima Konaté and Willi Orban will miss the game through injury, as will midfield duo Kevin Kampl and Tyler Adams.

Leipzig’s Champions League campaign so far

Julian Nagelsmann’s side progressed to the knockout stages of the competition by finishing top of their group. With three wins in their first four outings, they stormed to the summit of Group G, with their victories coming away to Benfica and Zenit St Petersburg, either side of a 2-1 home triumph over the aforementioned Russian champions. They finished off the group stage with a pair of 2-2 draws, the final of which came away to Lyon, where they knew they only needed a point to secure top spot.

Leipzig’s domestic form

Since returning from their winter break, Leipzig have struggled for consistency. Prior to pressing the pause button over the festive period, they were enjoying an unbeaten run of 12 games, winning nine of those. However, since the resumption of the German footballing calendar in mid-January, they have not been able to keep up that impressive run as, despite returning to action with a 3-1 win over Union Berlin, they failed to win each of their next four games, which included two defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt. That winless run was ended on Saturday, however, as Nagelsmann’s side turned over the Bundesliga’s second bottom side Werder Bremen 3-0.

One to watch

Timo Werner is a rising star in world football. Still just 23 years old, the striker has developed season-on-season to become one of the stand-out talents in the Bundesliga and the German national team. The striker started his career in his hometown with VfB Stuttgart and impressed at such an early age that by the time he was 17, he had made his senior debut for Die Roten. Leipzig spotted his ability and three seasons after his initial debut, they moved to bring the young forward to Saxony. In his first season at the Red Bull Arena, he scored 21 times and earned his first cap for Die Mannschaft. Over the next two campaigns, he added another 40 goals for Leipzig while this season, he already has 25 goals to his name as well as enjoying a run of 20 goal involvements in just nine Bundesliga games.

Leader of the opposition

The youngest coach ever to take permanent charge of a Bundesliga side, Julian Nagelsmann has enjoyed a strong start to life in charge at Leipzig. He arrived in Saxony at the start of the campaign and has seen his side go from strength to strength under his leadership as they battle for the Bundesliga title. Having begun his professional managerial career with Hoffenheim at the age of just 28, he led them back to the Champions League with two top four finishes before moving to the Red Bull Arena in July, 2019.

Our previous round of 16 ties

2018/19 season

13 February, 2019 – Spurs 3-0 Borussia Dortmund – UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg

5 March, 2019 – Borussia Dortmund 0-1 Spurs - UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg

2017/18 season

13 February, 2018 – Juventus 2-2 Spurs – UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg

7 March, 2018 – Spurs 1-2 Juventus – UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg

2010/11 season

15 February, 2011 – AC Milan 0-1 Spurs – UEFA Champions League round of 16, first leg

9 March, 2011 – Spurs 0-0 AC Milan - UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg

The numbers game

1 - This will be the first encounter between us and RB Leipzig. It’s also the first time RB Leipzig will face an English club in a competitive fixture while we will be facing German opposition in the Champions League round of 16 for the second consecutive season, after knocking out Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate in 2018/19.

3 – We are in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the third consecutive season.

1 - Only one of our 21 Champions League home games has ended in a draw (0-0 v AC Milan, March, 2011).

20 - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has seen more goals than any other venue in this season’s Champions League (20 goals; 11 for us, nine against).

4 - RB Leipzig lost their first two Champions League away games but are since unbeaten in their last four matches on the road (W3 D1), scoring 10 goals.

Quiz on our 2019/20 Champions League campaign so far

1. Who scored our first goal in the competition this season, coming in our 2-2 draw with Olympiacos on matchday one?

• Harry Kane
• Lucas Moura
• Heung-Min Son

2. How many points did we pick up in the group stage?

• 10
• 11
• 12

3. Against which side did we record our biggest win in the group stage?

• Olympiacos
• Bayern Munich
• Crvena zvezda

4. How many members of the squad appeared in each of our six group stage games?

• 2
• 6
• 10

5. To the nearest thousand metres, how far did we travel in the group stage to face Olympiacos, Crvena zvezda and Bayern Munich?

• 3,000m
• 4,000m
• 5,000m

(Answers at the bottom of the page.)

Match data

Venue – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Opposition colours – Black shirts, black shorts, black socks.

Referee - Cüneyt Çakır.

Weather forecast – Cloudy with a chance of showers, nine degrees.

Answers: 1 - Harry Kane; 2 - 10; 3 - Crvena zvezda; 4 - 2; 5 - 4,000m.