Christopher Nkunku captured his magical night in Bergamo with a selfie in front of the fan block, Konrad Laimer was rewarded with a warm hug from coach Domenico Tedesco.

The match winners from RB Leipzig enjoyed the semi-finals of the Europa League just as differently as they had previously acted 2-0 in Atalanta's cauldron.

The outstanding individualist and double goal scorer Nkunku here, the tireless ball conqueror Laimer there.

A congenial duo that could ultimately even lead the club to the first longed-for title.

Tedesco dutifully stated that it would not be okay to "take a player out".

The Italian press was happy to do that for him.

"End of the dream for the goddess, Atalanta remains in the dark.

Nkunku is unstoppable, Leipzig is in the semi-finals,” wrote the “Gazzetta dello Sport” on Good Friday.

Indeed, the premium performances of Nkunku and Laimer simply stood out.

There was the Austria international's half-pitch sprint in preparation for the lead, which he completed with a deliberate back pass to Nkunku.

And there was the class of the Frenchman, who kept the ball in front of Atalanta during the massive pressure phase and finally got the penalty for the decisive goal shortly before the end.

By the way, his 30th goal of the season in 43 games.

"He did an excellent job"

"You need a performance like that, where you show maturity and where you stay calm when things get hectic," emphasized playmaker Kevin Kampl in a hoarse voice and sent praise to his neighbor in central midfield afterwards.

“90 percent of the first goal goes to Konny.

He did an excellent job.” In the sold-out Gewiss Stadium, RB not only played against the physically powerful Bergamo professionals, but also against the relentlessly loud Curva Nord ultra grandstand.

"The atmosphere was exceptional," said Tedesco.

A good hour after the final whistle in the basement of the stadium, the coach announced the new goal.

“Nothing has been achieved yet, but we are striving for more.

If you're in the semi-finals, you want to get to the final," said the 36-year-old.

The semi-finals are against Glasgow Rangers on April 28, with the second leg in Scotland a week later.

The final is on May 18th in Seville.

In the duel with the Rangers, Leipzig is the favorite in the opinion of Bergamo captain Remo Freuler.

"It's good to hear that Freuler has now seen us in two games," emphasized Tedesco.

"First and foremost it's a compliment." And one that Leipzig has honestly earned in Tedesco's native country.

The maturity mentioned by Kampl not only makes the club from the Bundesliga a serious candidate for winning the Europa League.

It already makes them one of the top European teams.

After all, the team, which is almost identical in terms of personnel, was already in the semi-finals of the Champions League two years ago.

In the five-year ranking of the UEFA they have also overtaken Borussia Dortmund and are the German number two behind Bayern.

"We have more experience now because we've seen games like this before.

That's exactly the development we need to win games like this," said striker Yussuf Poulsen.

In the night before Good Friday, we went back to Leipzig by charter.

Tedesco has no time to lose, after all, the extremely important game in Leverkusen is already on Sunday (7.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on DAZN).

If RB wins at Bayer, the Werkself will be knocked out of third place and the next big step towards the goal of qualifying for the premier class has been ticked off.