Brajan Gruda winner earns RB Leipzig 1-0 Champions League victory over PSV
Gruda strikes as Leipzig finally break Champions League duck
RB Leipzig ended their wait for a first UEFA Champions League win of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, with Brajan Gruda's 75th-minute strike proving the difference.
Both sides arrived in desperate need of a result after disappointing opening-round results in the competition. Leipzig made just one change from their emphatic 6-0 domestic win against Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend, with Gruda returning to the starting line-up. PSV, meanwhile, made three changes from their own winning domestic XI, with three former Bundesliga players — Leipzig loanee Lutsharel Geertruida, Ivan Perišić and Filip Kostić — all coming into the team.
PSV had the clearest opportunity to open the scoring when Perišić saw a 19th-minute penalty saved, but it was Gruda who settled the contest in the 75th minute to seal the three points for the hosts.
Klopp's words kept Gruda on course for Germany return
The goal carried added significance for Gruda, who had been nominated in Jürgen Klopp's maiden Germany squad but was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury against Bayer Leverkusen. Awaiting his Germany debut, the 22-year-old revealed the message his national-team boss sent to keep him focused.
"It was very annoying [having to withdraw]," explained Gruda after Leipzig's win. "But Jürgen Klopp told me: 'Postponed is not cancelled.' If I perform well, the chance will come again."
Germany are set to travel to Serbia before hosting the Netherlands in their November UEFA Nations League fixtures, and Gruda's form could yet earn him a long-awaited senior international bow.
"If we give 100 percent, we can beat anyone"
Attention now turns to a massive Bundesliga clash with Bayern Munich, and Gruda is bullish about Leipzig's prospects against the reigning champions.
"If we give 100 percent, I think we can beat anyone," added Gruda. "It's football, anything can happen. We have a good spirit, we trust each other, and we'll see what happens."