It’s been a long road back for Tyler Adams this season dealing with numerous injuries, but the American midfielder crossed off an individual milestone on Tuesday.
Adams made his UEFA Champions League debut at Red Bull Arena, helping RB Leipzig advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in club hostiry. A 3-0 second leg win over last season’s finalists Tottenham, propelled Julian Nagelsmann’s side into the last eight after a 4-0 aggregate scoreline.
The 21-year-old came on for the injured Nordi Mukiele in the 56th minute and played the final 40 minutes for the Bundesliga side. He finished with 18 completed passes, three duels won, and two successful dribbles.
Leipzig are forced into a sub ?
➡️ Adams
⬅️ MukieleGet well soon, @NordiMukiele
?⚪ #DieRotenBullen #RBLSPURS 2-0 (55′) pic.twitter.com/lRT1pBknYv
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) March 10, 2020
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The midfielder almost had his first shot on goal in the competition, but a block from Ryan Sessegnon denied Adams. However, Emil Forsberg followed up the attempt with a goal in the same minute after coming on as a late substitute.
Adams has dealt with both an adductor and calf injury this season, which has only seen him make five appearances. His fitness will be crucial if Adams is included in his first U.S. Men’s National Team camp since March 2019 later this month.
Leipzig will now have to wait until March 14th to learn their opponent for the next round of the competition.
Up next for Adams and Leipzig is a league clash with Freiburg on Saturday with the team sitting five points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
Happy that he’s back to playing, and contributing to his club at a Champions League level of play; even if he only came off the bench its still an accomplishment. As he rounds back into condition/form he should get more minutes and more opportunities to get back to the dominant player he was when he first transferred to Germany.
Looking forwards to the March friendlies. Hoping we’ll get a chance to see what could be the Core of our team come the Hex on the field together….even if it’s only for a brief cameo (Brooks, Miazga, Dest, McKennie, Adams, Pulisic, Reyna).
Any one watch the game and comment on his performance?
I was half watching it while working. In the build up to the 3rd goal, he was wide open on the right and then he cut into the box anticipating the cross. I had a hunch he was going to score and his shot directly led to the goal. They had him on the right side. He looked good, and made some smart runs and passes. That being said, Spurs were done after it was 1-0.
I watched up until the third goal put the game definitely away. I think Adams showed some rust early when he was beaten twice on runs up the flank. He was half a step slow and let the opponent get position on him, turn the corner and get off crosses. His passing looked good, though.