DieRotenBullen enjoyed a perfect start to the new season, beating BK Häcken 4-0 in the first leg of the Europa League second round qualifier. 18,126 fans came to the Red Bull Arena watch the first competitive match of the 2018/19 season in the blistering Leipzig heat.
The Swedish visitors really held their own in the first half hour and even posed a threat going forward, but after the timely water break, RB Leipzig dominated. Bruma opened the scoring with a well-taken shot after a delightful long ball from Stefan Islanker. Five minutes later, debutant Matheus Cunha doubled the scoring in spectacular fashion.
Five minutes after the restart, Kevin Kampl was on hand at the end of a ferocious counter-attack led by Jean-Kevin Augustin to practically seal the deal. At 3-0, DieRotenBullen allowed the opposition to paly a little more, but remained in a comfortable position. Stefan Islanker's second yellow card and subsequent sending off was the only downside of an otherwise perfect game, which Augustin capped off in the 84th minute with a nice little goal of his own to make the full-time score a resounding 4-0.
The second leg away in Sweden is next week on Thursday (2nd August) again at 18:30 (CEST).
Ralf Rangnick's post-match comments:
- "The attitude, the mentality, the performance - everything was right today. I'm very pleased. We will of course take the second leg seriously; we cannot let this 4-0 lead slip. Before that, we're all off to our training camp in Seefeld tomorrow, where we'll undergo some intense preparations."
Match stats:
RB Leipzig
Müller – Klostermann, Orban (C), Konaté, Saracchi (68' Mukiele) – Ilsanker, Demme, Kampl – Cunha (89' Hartmann), Augustin, Bruma (85' Stierlin)
BK Häcken:
Abrahamsson – Hammar, Faltsetas (83' Berggren), Celik (70' Lundberg), Friberg, Kamara, Paulinho, Arkivuo, Irandust (46' Mohammed), Lindgren (C), Andersson
Referee:
Aleksandar Stavrev (Mazedonien)
Yellow cards:
Orban, Saracchi, Demme | Lindgren, Friberg, Celik, Lundberg
Sendings off:
Stefan Ilsanker, (82', second yellow)
Goals:
1-0 Bruma (35'), 2-0 Cunha (38'), 3-0 Kampl (50'), 4-0 Augustin (84')
Spectators:
18,126 in the Red Bull Arena

4:0
26. Juli

18.126 Zuschauer | Red Bull Arena , Leipzig