RB Leipzig battled past Sporting CP 2-1 on Wednesday to earn their first victory in seven Champions League matches and dent their opponents' hopes of a top-eight finish.

Leipzig had lost their previous six matches in the league phase and so were already eliminated before the visit of Sporting.

But the Bundesliga side took a deserved lead when Benjamin Sesko slid in to connect with a perfectly timed David Raum cutback in the 19th minute.

Raum, returning from a long injury lay-off, had a goal of his own disallowed, before Amadou Haidara saw a low drive bounce off the post in the second half.

With Sporting needing an away win to draw level on points with teams in the top eight, Viktor Gyokeres beat Willi Orban and drilled in an equaliser with 15 minutes to play.

But the visitors trailed again three minutes later when Yussuf Poulsen scrambled the ball over the line, and defeat leaves Sporting on 10 points in19th place ahead of the rest of Wednesday's matches.

Victory over @SportingCP!

FT | 2-1 | #RBLSCP | #UCL pic.twitter.com/DNHnwkA10l

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) January 22, 2025

Data debrief: Leipzig build on a lead at last

Despite losing six straight Champions League matches, the second-worst sequence by any German side in European Cup history, Leipzig had scored first in three of those games.

No team have ever lost four times in the same Champions League season after scoring first, though, and Leipzig ensured that remained the case despite seeing Sesko's opener cancelled out.

Poulsen's winner means it is Sporting who are now enduring a potentially damaging sequence, with this their third straight defeat after taking 10 points from their first four matches.