Soccer Football - Champions League - Group G - Manchester City v RB Leipzig - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - November 28, 2023 RB Leipzig's Lois Openda celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Carl Recine/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) - RB Leipzig's first half of the season could have been better but the team is firmly in the hunt for a top four finish this season to secure Champions League football that is crucial for the club, Leipzig top scorer Lois Openda said on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed a sensational first half of his maiden Bundesliga campaign, having scored 11 goals and delivered four assists.
"It's important to feel good and feel at home. I know that I can, for sure, do more," Openda told reporters. "I want to be a top player, play for the best team in the world. The move to Leipzig can help me to do that."
Together with fellow new signing Xavi Simons, who has netted four times and added another seven assists, they have plugged the attacking gap that was initially left by the departures of Christopher Nkunku and Dominik Szoboszlai last summer and the injury of Dani Olmo earlier this season.
"Now we have our objectives. The first part of the season was good but it could be better because we lost some games, missed some points," the Belgium international said.
"We wanted to be in the top four and three and we are still there. We have to continue in the second part of the season, there are more than 15 games."
"We still have the time to be better in the table and win a lot of games. The first half was good. Our objective was to be in top four," he said. "Now we are focused on the second part of the season.
The new year got off to a bumpy start for Leipzig as they were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt in their first match following the winter break.
Leipzig are fourth in the Bundesliga, three points ahead of fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund and one behind VfB Stuttgart who are third.
The top four teams qualify automatically for next season's Champions League group stage.
"We still have a lot of objectives. We will do it all together it is important to stay in the Champions League next season. That's really important," Openda said.
In this season's Champions League, the Saxony club face Real Madrid in the last 16 next month.
But for Openda this game is still a long way away with league leaders Bayer Leverkusen awaiting on Saturday.
"Saturday against Leverkusen we have to win for sure to be better in the table," he said. "We are focused on Leverkusen. We are not thinking about Real Madrid yet."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
