Timo Werner is back firing for RB Leipzig, Man City should be wary of the German striker

Timo Werner’s spell at Chelsea is generally remembered, perhaps a little unfairly, as a flop.

Despite winning a Champions League and Club World Cup in his two seasons at Stamford Bridge, the German striker was often ridiculed for missing open chances.

He scored 23 goals in 89 games for the Blues, including just 10 across two league campaigns, and returned to his previous club RB Leipzig for £25 million last summer, £20m less than he had arrived for.

The 27-year-old’s failure in England had always been something of a mystery given his excellent record in Germany, and since returning to the Bundesliga has looked somewhere near his best again.

As Manchester City prepare for a second Champions League leg against Werner’s side, Sportsmail takes a look at why they should be wary of the striker.

Timo Werner has been back to his best since returning to RB Leipzig last summer

 What went wrong at Chelsea?

Werner has been vocal about his struggles in West London since his exit last summer.

 He felt that Chelsea’s then-manager Thomas Tuchel lost all confidence in him despite his role in their 2021 UCL victory, where Werner started up front as they beat City 1-0 in the final.

 ‘The biggest problem was he put a striker like [Romelu] Lukaku in front of me in the second season after I won the Champions League by nearly playing every game in the first squad’, Werner told the Sun last month. 

‘When you come from the kind of success I had in Germany or with Chelsea – playing nearly every game in the first season, winning the Champions League in 2021, scoring in the semi-final against Real Madrid, making a lot of goals.

‘Then all this gets a little bit forgotten by the manager, it was not really fair. That was also a reason I had to move back to Leipzig, to get the enjoyment again.’

The striker’s problems were more complex than he makes out. He returned six times less goals in his first Premier League season than he did in the year before leaving Germany, so Tuchel was justified in bringing in a new number nine.

However, Werner’s lack of confidence seemed to stem from never really feeling accepted at Chelsea. He was seen as a hard-working and honest striker, but lacked the conviction in front of goal to become a star for the club.

His excellent record at Leipzig (now 108 goals in 188 games) has come in a side where he has always been a key player.

Werner also struggled with the physicality of English football and famously said he had ‘never played against three massive defenders before’ after making his Premier League debut against Brighton. 

He failed to impress in two years at Chelsea, scoring just 10 league goals across two seasons

The 27-year-old is now back at his old club and has managed 13 goals in 27 games this season

Back to his best

 Werner lit the Bundesliga up before joining Chelsea, and perhaps part of his failure in England came from the high expectations he had set up.

He passed 19 goals in each of his four seasons at Leipzig and hit 34 in just 45 games the year before he left.

It has been as though he was never away this season, with the striker already bagging 13 goals in 27 games.

He has helped the club to third in the league, and they could still have a shot at the title with just a seven point gap to leaders Bayern Munich. 

The striker scored from distance in his first game back for the club, and hit a ferocious near-post effort on Saturday that flew in off the crossbar as Leipzig beat Borussia Mochengladbach 3-0.

For English fans who remember Werner for his struggles in front of goal at Chelsea, it was the finish of a different player who has clearly got his confidence back.

A European veteran

Even when he found the going tough in England, Werner has always been a dangerous player in the Champions League.

He netted eight times in 17 games in UCL football for Chelsea, and scored against Real Madrid in the 2021 semi-final on his way to a winners medal.

The striker has 21 goals across 48 games in the Champions League and Europa League, and impressed against Manchester City in the first leg of their last 16 clash last month.

In a team famed for it’s exciting young players, Werner’s winning experience could be vital if they are to progress in Europe.

Should City be worried? 

Whether Pep Guardiola wins four Premier League titles in five years or five in six years at the Etihad may be forgotten, but he will be desperate to brig a European trophy to the club.

Another striker who forged his reputation in German football, Erling Haaland, arrived for that very purpose, and will be a key presence in Tuesday’s clash with Leipzig.

City may be buoyed by the likely absence of Lepizg’s highly-rated and Chelsea-bound forward Christopher Nknunku through injury, but it will still be a far-from straightforward tie.

They start the second leg level after Josko Gvardiol cancelled out Riyad Mahrez’s opener in a first leg where Haaland went missing and Werner had some promising creative moments.

The Cityzens may be favourites but they come into the game after a less-than convincing 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last weekend.

Werner played in the first leg against Man City last month and featured in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over them in the 2021 UCL final

Pep Guardiola’s side will need to  be wary of the striker as they target a first European trophy since 1970

Werner faced City in the game where they came closest to securing Europe’s greatest prize, and could haunt them again as he leads the line on Tuesday.

He comes into the game after scoring two in his last three appearances, and will be the main goal threat in Nkunku’s absence.

City’s rare losses this season have generally come against sides with pacey forward who run at their defence or catch them on the break, with the likes of Ivan Toney, Marcus Rashford and Mohamed Salah all troubling their backline.

If Werner, whose electric pace and stellar work-rate have never been questioned, can follow their template in the second leg, it could be another evening of European disappointment for Man City.