Uefa announce Leipzig's qualification to Europa League quarter-finals
A spokesman for Uefa confirmed on Monday that German club Leipzig have officially reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League competition.
This came after Spartak Moscow was excluded from Russia as part of sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine.
"There will be no matches for Leipzig and Spartak (back and forth) and Leipzig will qualify for the quarter-finals," the spokesman said.
In a joint statement on Monday evening, the international and European federations announced the exclusion of all Russian teams and clubs from all international competitions "until further notice."
The Russian club had to face Leipzig on The 10th and 17th of next month in the final price, with Spartak being the only remaining representative of Russia in European competitions.
However, the INTERNATIONAL Federation has not yet confirmed a request from AFP whether the Polish team automatically qualified for the 2022 Qatar World Cup final, although it had to face Russia on March 24 in Moscow, the winner of which will meet Sweden or the Czech Republic.
Adult exit puts fcLeipzig ahead of cup contenders
Several teams led by Leipzig, the two-time champion' summer, are seeking to achieve an achievement in addition to their tally for the first time in history by winning championships, through the German Cup of Football, while the big teams have come out of the competition.
Bayern Munich, the record holder in the tournament (20 times) came out of the tournament with a resounding 0-5 defeat to Borussia Mönchengladbach, who in turn came out of the round of 16 alongside the defending champions Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern defeated Leipzig in the 2019 final, while Dortmund won the title at the expense of the same team in last season's final.
After a series of surprises, only four Bundesliga teams remain in the championship, along with four teams from the Second Division.
Hannover will host Leipzig on Wednesday in one of the quarter-finals, with the rest of the matches taking place against Hamburg (second division) and Karlsruhe (second division), bochum facing Freiburg and Union Berlin playing St Pauli, the top-ranked Borussia Dortmund.
No of the four Bundesliga teams have won the title in their history, although Union Berlin won the East German Cup in 1968, while Hamburg and Karlsruhe have already won the title alongside Hanover.
Strongest candidate
Leipzig are one of the strongest candidates to snatch the title, given their support from Red Bull Beverages, where the team wants to win its first title.
The team managed to overcome the poor start of the season to now finish fourth in the Bundesliga, and in Hanover, the team will seek a fourth consecutive victory away from home, following last Sunday's 1-0 victory over Bochum.
Frenchman Christopher Nkinka scored the game's only goal after replacing, adding his 23rd goal in 35 games and providing 13 assists.
"He's a special player," teammate Tyler Adams said of him.
Hanover had knocked out Mönchengladbach in the previous round, and by beating Holstein Kiel 2-0 last week, the team was six points away from the relegation zone in the second division.
"This will give the team a lot of strength in the next phase, including wednesday's clash with Leipzig," said Head Coach Christoph Dabrowski.
Freiburg, led by coach Christian Strych, will be able to continue their impressive performance this season by beating Bochum, who became difficult to beat at home, after several victories, most notably a 4/2 win over Bayern Munich.
"It's going to be very difficult, a lot of teams have lost there, we know what we're up to and we're trying to play our way," Freiburg forward Lucas Holler said.
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