‘He had no right’: Reported £16m Tottenham target stunned Nagelsmann in world-class display

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It was a microcosm of RB Leipzig’s entire season. Create a chance, miss a chance, create another, miss another.

However this time Julian Nagelsmann couldn’t lay the blame at the feet of his misfiring strike force.

The fact Leipzig took 67 minutes to open the scoring at the Mercedes Benz Arena after finding the net with just one of their 22 attempts was down to one man – Stuttgart goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.

You’d be hard pressed to find a better goalkeeping performance in European football this season. Not at Anfield, the Etihad or even the Santiago Bernabéu.

If pure, unfiltered shot-stopping whets your appetite, look no further than Kobel’s awe-striking, gravity-defying performance on 2 January 2021.

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Early on, Kobel denied Angelino with a superb reflex save down to his right – a sign of things to come.

Then, just before the break, the 23-year-old pulled off one of the finest penalty saves you’ll see, improvising brilliantly to volley – yes volley – Emil Forsberg’s spot kick on to the bar and away.

Several more eye-catching stops followed before Dani Olmo finally made Leipzig’s overwhelming pressure count at the far post.

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“Hats off to Gregor Kobel. He made some saves he had no right to make,” a breathless Nagelsmann said at full-time, paying a deserving tribute to this “monster” of a goalkeeper.

Spurs going head to head with Dortmund

With Kicker reporting Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund are going head to head for Kobel – the former identifying the £16 million-rated Switzerland U21 international as Hugo Lloris’ successor – it’s worth pointing out Stuttgart’s number one deserves to be remembered for more than just one performance.

It is Kobel’s extraordinary consistency that has really caught the eye.

That wonderous winter display at the Mercedes Benz was merely the cherry on top of a brilliant season from a goalkeeper who, in no time at all, has blossomed into one of the Bundesliga’s best.