Leipzig compete before falling 4-1 at Real Madrid as ex-player Diomande scores late

RB Leipzig suffered a second defeat in three Champions League league-phase games but showed clear improvement, losing 4-1 at Real Madrid on Wednesday night in front of some 80,000 fans at the Santiago Bernabeu. Martin Demichelis' side started boldly and pressed high, with Romulo denied early by Antonio Ruediger and again in the 28th minute by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. At the other end, Leipzig keeper Maarten Vandevoordt kept his team in the game with several saves until Bernardo Silva tapped in shortly before halftime in the 44th minute.

Arda Guler doubled the lead in the 52nd minute after work by Kylian Mbappe, who scored himself in the 82nd. Substitute Tidiam Gomis pulled one back for 3-1 in the 85th from a Christoph Baumgartner pass, but two minutes later Yan Diomande, who moved from Leipzig to Madrid in the summer, sealed the win. Real remain perfect with three wins from three, while Leipzig sit 29th of 36 with three points. According to dpa, Leipzig have now gone five straight competitive away games without a point.

Asked by DAZN whether he was satisfied, Demichelis said: "Of course not," adding that the team had shown "a different picture of itself" and saying: "I believe we will find the right path." Baumgartner, back from injury for the closing stages, compared it with the 6-1 loss at Bayern: "In Munich we gave up a bit, I didn't have that feeling today." Leipzig host SV Elversberg in the Bundesliga on Saturday (1330 GMT) and Manchester City in the Champions League on Nov. 4.