Jose's verdict on RB Leipzig

Jose Mourinho declared himself proud of the players after RB Leipzig nudged ahead in our Champions League, Round of 16 tie on Wednesday night.

The Bundesliga contenders take a 1-0 lead back to Germany for the second leg on Tuesday 10 March with Timo Werner’s penalty just before the hour the difference between the teams.

Hugo Lloris was at his best to keep out Werner, Angelino and Patrik Schick as Leipzig impressed, particularly in the first half. However, Peter Gulacsi also kept out Steven Bergwijn in the first half and tipped Giovani Lo Celso’s free-kick onto the post as we pinned the visitors back in the final quarter.

Jose said: “1-0 is 1-0, it’s not 10-0, the result is open, it’s as simple as that. We wouldn’t be the first team to lose a game at home 1-0 and to win the tie away. Why shouldn’t we believe?

“You can tell me we had luck in some moments, I disagree. We had a great goalkeeper who made two magnificent saves and that is not luck, that is an amazing goalkeeper. Their goalkeeper also made a couple of fantastic saves. We had our chances and we tried everything we could.

“The thing that keeps me confident is the spirit, the mentality of my players, it’s what they are not just as players, but especially what they are as guys, as a group, a fantastic group of players.

“I’m so, so proud of the players and in speaking about the Champions League and the next match against Leipzig, one thing I can guarantee, because this is the mentality of my players, is that we are going there to fight to our limits.”