Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland and Timo Werner lighting up a Bundesliga title race for the ages

On Saturday afternoon, as the rain bucketed down and match-goers sidestepped puddles to pour into Arena Leipzig, the crammed sports bar resembled the top end of the Bundesliga table.

There was no space to manoeuvre and no margin for error. That was evident from the spilled pints soaking the floor, and as everyone huddled around the multiple TV screens to digest the 3.30pm kick offs, they hoped there will be spilled points too - primarily from Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Red Bull Arena is a five-minute walk away and RB Leipzig, who host fellow title hopefuls Borussia Monchengladbach later in the evening, have ambitions of landing their first top-flight crown.

Their supporters are the ones packed into the pub and they know Bayern and a Erling Haaland-powered Borussia Dortmund pose the greatest threat to Julian Nagelsmann’s team meeting their objective.

Gladbach, though, have the progressive Marco Rose at the helm and have mastered his high-pressing demands. There is everything to play for. There is no space to manoeuvre and no margin for error.

An employee from one of Europe’s top agencies describes it as “the battle between the coaches Premier League clubs should be looking at long term” and there is no counter to that point.

To warm up for the showdown, the Leipzig fans are are glued to Sky Sports 1, which is broadcasting all the major moments from the five afternoon games.

The first mass groan comes after just eight minutes, with Robert Lewandowski breaching Mainz’s defence to make it advantage Bayern.

Disappointment then floods in. Jadon Sancho’s deflected shot puts Dortmund in front against 1. FC Union Berlin. Thomas Muller has added another for Hansi Flick’s side. Oh dear, Haaland has scored. ‘Nochmals!,’ is the cry. Again. Yes, again.

It is particularly painful for Leipzig supporters and the club’s hierarchy to see Haaland swimming in goals for BVB given their big push for him at the end of last year.

While the Norway international was Manchester United’s priority target for the January window, sources at Red Bull Salzburg had maintained the player’s decision - based on the best chance of development at his age - came down to Dortmund or working under Nagelsmann.

Haaland chose the former, who offered better terms, are a more popular global entity and have a track record of providing the perfect launchpad for gifted youngsters.

He netted his seventh goal in just three games on Saturday - the first time a player has managed to successfully muddle opposition defences so many times during such few games in the league’s history.

Back in November, the 19-year-old was being discussed in the boardrooms of both Leipzig and Dortmund as a game-changer that could help break Bayern’s hegemony.

Fast forward and many believe that BVB are the best bet to do just that given his transformative effect on the team.

Lucien Favre’s charges swaggered to a 5-0 home victory on Saturday, leaving them three points behind Bayern, who won 3-1 at Mainz to move to the summit.

Leipzig now have to beat Gladbach to reclaim top spot, but they have not started well, which is welcome news for the majority of Bundesliga supporters

The away end unfurls a banner reading 'Traditionsverein seit 1900' - traditional club since 1900 - to hit at the crux of the issue.

RB Leipzig, founded in May 2009 after purchasing the playing rights of SSV Markranstadt, then in Germany’s fifth tier, are seen as a manufactured product of Red Bull investment rather than a real football organisation.

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They are considered a betrayal of the very fundaments of the sport in the country, most specifically the ability of fans to have a say in the way their club is run under the 50+1 rule.

Gladbach fans place another flag over their initial one, stating ‘Keine akzeptanz’ - no acceptance - for RB. On the pitch, their team is being unobliging too. The transitions from Rose’s charges are excellent, stifling Leipzig counters and sparking their own attacks in seconds.

Alassane Plea and Jonas Hofmann give them a two-goal cushion at half-time, with defensive art from Dayot Upamecano restricting a more bloated scoreline.

Nagelsmann responds with a double substitution, bringing on Youssef Poulsen and Patrik Schick. The latter pulls a goal back after a Yann Sommer mistake and Plea is sent off after two yellows in quick succession. It is all Leipzig and Christopher Nkunku shows fine feet as well as a superb finish into the far corner to draw them level.

They push for the winner, but run out of time and are left looking up at Bayern in the table, whom they trail by a point.

The Bundesliga title race is providing an almighty script at the moment, but the fear is that there will be no plot twist and a predictable ending: an eighth-straight triumph for Germany’s super power.

Only two teams have been crowned champions in the last decade, with Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund denying Bayern in 2011 and 2012.

Perhaps BVB or Gladbach will avert the need for this question, but while Leipzig are certainly unpopular and definitely unloved, would it really be that detrimental to have a fresh face as the best in German football?

For all the understandable and legitimate discontent over how the club came into existence, it’s difficult to deny that they are well run, have a clear playing philosophy as well as a stellar scouting structure. They have been excellently coached too in the last few years.

Leipzig have also reinvigorated East Germany’s football landscape, which was ruined by a systemic lack of funds and the plundering of their best talent after reunification in 1990.

When they reached the Bundesliga in 2016-17, the club became the first from the region to participate in the top flight since Energie Cottbus were relegated in 2009. And a football-passionate city, the birthplace of the German FA, can’t be begrudged having a good team to get behind.

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Leipzig’s record spend on a player is the €29.75m shelled out on Naby Keita, whom they sold to Liverpool for double that fee.

The Guinea midfielder is the club’s only signing to breach the €20m mark. Timo Werner, who cost half of that, is expected to fetch around €60m with the Premier League leaders and Chelsea having previously made checks on him.

Scouts from English clubs have also been closely analysing Marcel Sabitzer, Nkunku, Ibrahima Konate and Upamecano, while one high-ranking German official remarked that the “Bundesliga is like the Premier League’s talent factory. We do the hard labour, they pay the big money for the finished product.”

There is set to be quite a bit of shopping in Germany’s top flight this summer. At Dortmund, there is a feeling that Sancho may be tempted to join Chelsea if they secure Champions League football. Frank Lampard could do with a generational superstar to build his long-term blueprint around and the England international thrives when cast as the main man.

On Saturday, Sancho became the youngest player in Bundesliga history to reach 25 goals and his price tag is expected to be around €155m.

Haaland is expected to eventually end up in England too, while Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz is a player every elite club has forensically looked into. At Gladbach, there is fear that Marcus Thuram, the son of the legendary Lillian, will be lured away and it would be a shock if there is no challenge to Dortmund making Achraf Hakimi's loan from Real Madrid permanent this summer.

The scale of talent in the Bundesliga is frightening and it tells a story of good scouting, but also the value of championing development and progressive football.

There is clearly so much more to absorb from the Bundesliga than just a fascinating title race.