“Bramante ran the show”

Marco Bramante made the difference four times over. He scored once, set up the other three goals and was named player of the match as RB Leipzig began their DFB-Pokal campaign with a 4-0 win over TuS Osdorf.

The Italian completed the full 90 minutes and finished with a 9.9 rating, three key passes and six shots, three on target. Leipzig had 72 per cent of possession and 27 shots; Osdorf managed four, none on target. Bramante was the point of order in a match that left little doubt about where the pressure lay.

There was no quick route through. Leipzig struck the woodwork four times, while Osdorf kept the scoreless spell alive amid a night of sustained defending. Bramante’s work eventually turned control into goals: his three assists supplied the service, and his own goal completed a personal haul that made the scoreline four.

Marco Aurélio Gonçalves Filho, Gökhan Kılıç and Dani Sánchez also scored for Leipzig. Kılıç added five tackles, while Sánchez took six shots. But the match belonged to Bramante, whose contribution joined the finishing to the creation. “Give me the ball and I’ll find the next pass,” was the sort of evening his display suggested, even if no quotation was needed to make the point.

Leipzig’s summer signing Iván arrived from Juventus for £26.5m, while Jorge Novillo was named German Players’ Player of the Year. Neither development changes the immediate arithmetic: the cup tie was settled by the player who produced a goal and three assists. Leipzig will need that efficiency when the opposition gives them less room to spend the evening in possession.