Confirmed Lineups: RB Leipzig vs. Sporting Lisbon
With exactly an hour to go until kick-off, RB Leipzig head coach Marco Rose has announced his starting eleven to take on a talented Sporting Lisbon side. The team from the Portuguese capital are currently sitting pretty in first place with 44 points after 18 rounds of domestic Liga Portugal action and flying high in the Champions League.
As for Leipzig, their dreams of reaching the knockout stages of Europe's premier competition is all but over. Having struggled for form throughout the campaign, they remain rooted to the foot of the table with no points. With the new format in place, a possible maximum of six points from their remaining two games would not suffice in order to progress.
Tonight, Marco Rose makes 6 wholesale changes to their line-up which were surprisingly held to a 3-3 stalemate by a resurgent VfL Bochum last Saturday afternoon. Maarten Vandevoordt starts between the sticks while Lutsharel Geertruida and El Chadaille Bitshiabu come into defence alongside captain Willi Orbán and David Raum.
In midfield, Nicolas Seiwald and Amadou Haidara are joined by the more attack-minded duo of Xavi Simons and Christoph Baumgartner. Normal service resumes up top as Benjamin Sesko plays alongside Loïs Openda.
As for the hosts, they come into tonight on the back of a routine 3-0 with over Rio Ave on the weekend . Head coach Rui Borges starts with a formation including former Mainz defender Jeremiah St.Juste. the only surprise ommission is a place on the bench for top-scorer and ex-St.Pauli striker Viktor Gyökeres.
Official lineups below:
RB Leipzig (4-2-2-2): Vandevoordt - Geertruida, Bitshiabu, Orbán (c), Raum - Haidara, Seiwald - Baumgartner, Simons - Sesko, Openda
Sporting Lisbon: (4-4-2): Israel - Fresneda, Diomande, St.Juste, Araujo - Catamo, Debast, Hjulmand (c), Quenda - Trincão, Harder
