MADRID (Reuters) -Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde scored a superb second-half goal and Marco Asensio struck late to fire the holders to a 2-0 win at home to RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Uruguayan Valverde showed composure to calmly beat a defender with clever footwork on the edge of the area before picking his spot in the bottom corner of the net in the 80th minute.
The 14-times winners gave an underwhelming performance and until Valverde’s goal had only managed one shot on target, while Leipzig had created plenty of openings but were not clinical enough in the area.
Real wrapped up the victory with a goal in added time from substitute Asensio, the Spaniard slotting into the net after a lay off from Toni Kroos.
Real lead Group F with six points after two games, while Leipzig are bottom with no points.
In their first Champions League match under new coach Marco Rose, Leipzig took the game to Real and were comfortably the better side in the first half, with forward Christopher Nkunku causing the hosts plenty of problems.
Nkunku fired an early shot at goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and later forced his way into the area before Real midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni made a crucial tackle. The French forward was then inches away from connecting with a Timo Werner cross from close range.
Real offered little going forward but felt they should have had a penalty when Luka Modric was smothered by Xaver Schlager shortly before halftime.
The same script was followed for much of the second half until Valverde, who had scored a sensational goal against Real Mallorca at the weekend with a run from his own half, provided the breakthrough moment.
“It was a tremendous goal, we have to make the most of him because he is in brilliant form,” said Real defender Nacho of Valverde.
“It was a really hard-fought game, we were a bit out of sync but we spoke about it at halftime and we have a lot of power and are always capable of scoring.”
(Reporting by Richard MartinEditing by Toby Davis)
