da lvbet： RB Leipzig star Lois Openda revealed that Didier Drogba has served as his chief inspiration as he looks to make his own path at the top levels.

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Openda highlights Drogba inspirationStriker scoring big goals in BundesligaRB Leipzig face big clash with Leverkusen and looming tie with Real MadridWHAT HAPPENED?

Openda has taken no time at all to adjust to life in the Bundesliga as he continues to prove himself as one of the most dynamic young forwards in world football. Having joined the club from Lens this summer, Openda finds himself third in the league in scoring with 11 goals, behind only Harry Kane and Serhou Guirassy. He added four further goals in Champions League play, helping Leipzig finish second in their group behind Manchester City. His success in the Bundesliga continues a series of successive breakout seasons for the young striker. After scoring 37 goals across two seasons on loan with Vitesse, the ex-Club Brugge forward made the move to Lens in 2022, spending just one season in France before earning a big switch to Leipzig behind a 21-goal campaign.

Just 23, Openda has his sights on reaching the highest levels, and he has a role model in Drogba that he continues to look to as an example of how to reach those levels.

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"Drogba was my idol," Openda said. "When I was young, looking at all the games when he was playing for Chelsea and also with the national team, he was always scoring goals. He protected the ball and also gave assists, so he always had this big impact on the team. It was so crazy and I was always looking at Drogba and wanting to play like him. I wanted to, one day, be a top, top striker like him, but why not be better than him?

"I have to work for that but, yeah, when I was I was young, that was my idol and now I think I can do something good. I learned from him when I was young, but now I have to also learn from myself because I'm also now a professional football player and I can learn also from my own actions. What I've done really good, and what I've done wrong, I can do all of these things better, for sure."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Thanks to his success in the Bundesliga, Openda is already being linked with another big move, with Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool among those linked to the Belgian striker in recent months. Having already played in four countries before his 23rd birthday, Openda has seemingly mastered the art of knowing when to make a move, but he says he plans on developing at Leipzig for a little while.

"[Moving] every two years is not the best thing!" he said. "It's never easy, but sometimes you have the opportunity to go to a better club and to perform and to have something better, I think you have to do it. I think that what I did when I was with Vitesse for two years, for me, was perfect and enough to go to Lens, to go to a higher club and to make that step higher and to see if the two years I had Vitesse was enough to play to a higher level. And what I did with Lens, I just played one year, but what I did there was perfect and I also decided to move to RB Leipzig.

"I've now signed a contract of five years. We're good here. We are focused for this season because it's really important for my progression and we will have the next season because it's really important for me. Like I said, I have a five-year contract here so I feel good and I'm focused on my objectives."

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR RB LEIPZIG?

Leipzig, who enter the weekend fourth in the Bundesliga, face a huge match when they play host to league-leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Looming large, though, is a Champions League round of 16 tie with Real Madrid, a match that Openda and everyone else at the club is looking forward to, even if it isn't in the front of their minds just yet.

"[Real Madrid] are one of the best in the world along with Manchester City," Openda said. "I played against Real Madrid in 2018 with Brugge in the Champions League and I can tell you that it's not easy to win again against them, here or at home. It's totally different but we have a good team. We saw in the Champions League group stage that we have a good team with we did against City. Even if we lost, I think there we showed our mentality to everybody else. We've shown it against Bayern and Dortmund, big teams, but we can also play good football and win they game. Against Madrid, they have a lot of Champions League experience, young players that are really at the top with Vinicius and Rodrygo and then like Toni Kroos and all of the other players, but we always have a chance to win a game because you never know what will happen. Even if they are favorites, we still have our chance. We will go there with confidence and don't be scared because we also want to go through because it's our objective to stand the competition. That's what we want to do. These last few years, Leipzig have shown that they are also a big club and they want to become a bigger club now, so what we have to do is just go there with confidence, don't think too much and try to win this game because everything is possible."