How RB Leipzig overcame all in their path to threaten Borussia Dortmund's status as Germany’s second team
Leipzig wasted little time taking the Bundesliga to task last season with fast, high-pressure football. With their place in the Champions League now guaranteed, the sky is the limit
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Your support makes all the difference.Although German football fans were far from happy on Tuesday when the news came through that UEFA had granted RB Leipzig access to this season’s Champions League, there was a begrudging acceptance that even Europe’s governing body could do little to stop the rise of this new Bundesliga power.
Since flying through a loophole that allowed the energy drink giants Red Bull to buy the rights of fifth division side SSV Markranstadt in 2009, RasenballSport Leipzig have wasted little time overcoming any obstacle that stood in their way of becoming a giant in German football.
Despite the constant media attention since their inaugural season, few could have predicted the stellar rise of this young squad from 2.Bundesliga champions last May to a second-placed finish behind Bayern Munich just 12 months later. Now the Champions League beckons and with it the financial security and continental allure that could see Leipzig quite comfortably become Germany’s second team.
First and foremost, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side already are exactly that if we want to base such a ranking purely on sporting success. While Dortmund bickered with Thomas Tuchel for a season, Leipzig and their own new coach wasted little time taking the Bundesliga to task with fast, high-pressure football.
Despite never toppling Carlo Ancelotti’s defending champions, Hasenhuttl leapfrogged Dortmund in his first season with the newly-promoted club and took four points off Hoffenheim’s famed, young tactician Julian Nagelsmann. In fact, Bayern Munich and Dortmund were the only teams to notch up a win against Leipzig in 10 league games against the other top six sides last season.
Although he may not be as popular or trendy as his counterparts at the top of the Bundesliga table, there’s certainly a case to be made that Leipzig’s 49-year-old coach was the very best in the league last season.
To understand Leipzig’s rise you must also appreciate their expertise in the transfer window. Under the guidance of manager-turned-sporting-director Ralf Rangick, the fledgling club have continuously sought outstanding, young talent before their rivals are even aware of them.
Nottingham Forrest fans will remember the manner in which the German side swooped in and signed Oliver Burke within just a matter of days. While Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal lingered over a possible offer, Rangnick already had the young Scot on a flight to Leipzig, showing him videos of the city and club he’d inevitably be joining.
For a combined total just north of what Borussia Dortmund paid for c last summer, Leipzig have managed to sign an incredible spine for this young side: An attacking line of Yussuf Poulsen, Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg, central midfielder Naby Keita and 18-year-old centre back Dayot Upamecano. And it’s only continued this summer.
While Dortmund have been forced to pay full value for average Bundesliga talents like Omer Toprak and Maximilian Philipp, Leipzig were busy signing Portugal U-21star Bruma from Turkey and Yvon Mvogo, a promising goalkeeper from Swiss side Young Boys.
Leipzig also look far better equipped than their rivals at holding on to the young stars they accumulate.
Third-placed Dortmund recently replaced Tuchel after disagreements over the manner in which the club sold key players last summer and will have a battle on their hands to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the coming months, while Hoffenheim have already lost Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy to Bayern. Add to that the expected departure of Cologne star striker, Anthony Modeste, to China and Hertha Berlin decision to cash in on an offer from Wolfsburg for key defender, Jonathan Brooks.
Contrast that with the constant rumours linking Forsberg, Keita and Werner to Anfield or elsewhere in England. All three players have contracts that last at least another three years, which the club fully expect them to fulfil. The only young star that has left this summer has been Davie Selke to Hertha, after struggling to get game time.
Although Europe’s top leagues, and the riches that come with them, haven’t had much time to test Leipzig’s resolve in the market, this current transfer window has so far gone exactly to plan for the club.
Indeed, in the modern Bundesliga resisting the urge to sell key players can get you just as far as signing new ones and Leipzig seem like the only team in Germany that can match Bayern in that regard.
While the Schalke circus rumbles on, Volkswagen-owned Wolfsburg learn to live within their means and Dortmund begin yet another transition season, Leipzig look set to go from strength to strength with the right squad, coach and management in place.
Most may not like the Bundesliga’s newest club but it seems as though Germany and Europe may have to get used to them.
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