RB Leipzig

History

The history of RB is a short but fascinating one as it brought full commercialisation of a club into a major league for the first time in European football history as whilst the likes of PSV Eindhoven and Bayer Leverkusen have strong links to companies, they were not set up with the sole intention of promoting a product/brand.

That is what has happened at Leipzig as the sole intention of the club is to promote the Red Bull brand as it was the companies co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz who led the search for a club to take over in Germany to establish a new promotional tool for Red Bull GmbH.

After considering cities such as Hamburg, Munich, and Dusseldorf it was Leipzig that was selected as the FC Sachsen Leipzig club were in financial difficulties.

As the successor of the former East German champions BSG Chemie Leipzig, the club had a big but somewhat dormant fanbase to utilise.

At the time of the potential takeover, the club were playing in the Oberliga, the 4th tier of German football, but with the clubs plan of changing the name of the club to FC Red Bull Sachsen Leipzig rejected by the German FA and with fan protests turning violent, the company moved on.

The next club to come to their interest was FC St Pauli, which seemed a strange decision to all as the left-leaning fans of St Pauli were at the forefront of the protests over Red Bulls takeover of SV Austria Salzburg.

Once it moved from the original plans of a major sponsorship to a takeover, St Pauli ended discussions and Red Bull moved to TSV 1860 Munich.

Those discussions didn’t go far and the company then moved onto Fortuna Dusseldorf and after heavy protests once more, the board of the club turned down the finances of Red Bull.

The company then turned back towards Leipzig and as a large city, with a history of footballing success but one with no top tier club nearby, the attraction was clear.

The city also had a large airport, transportation and thanks to the 2006 World Cup, a large, modern stadium.

By 2008 when the company made their final move for a club, the decision was to search for a club if the 5th tier and therefore out of the control of the DFB who had scuppered all attempts at changing a clubs name to include Red Bull in it.

It was SSV Markranstadt, from a small town 13 kilometres from Leipzig, were chosen and just 5 weeks later, the club had sold out and RasenBallsport (meaning Lawn Ball Sports) Leipzig e.V. was formed and in ‘surprisingly’ there new name could be easily shortened to RB, or Red Bull.

The company invested heavily and it took only a few years to rise through the lower divisions of the footballing pyramid in Germany and by 2016, they had made it to the Bundesliga.

They made the step up look straight forward as the entered into the 2016/17 Champions League to become the first former East Germany team in the top flight to sit top of the table since 1991 and the first debutant to make it to Europe since German reunification.

2016–2019: An immediate impact in the Bundesliga

RB Leipzig made their Bundesliga debut in August 2016 against TSG Hoffenheim, drawing 2–2. Their first top-flight campaign quickly developed into one of the most impressive promotion-season performances in modern German football.

Under head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl, Leipzig combined aggressive pressing with rapid counter-attacks and disciplined organisation. The team went on a lengthy unbeaten run and challenged Bayern Munich for the title. Although Bayern ultimately finished first, Leipzig secured second place in 2016/17 and qualified directly for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

That runners-up finish was a remarkable achievement for a club playing its first season in the Bundesliga. Leipzig had gone from the fifth tier to the Champions League in just seven years, attracting international attention and establishing themselves as a serious force in German football.

The following seasons brought the challenges of balancing domestic competition with European commitments. Leipzig made their Champions League debut in 2017/18 and continued building a squad capable of competing at the highest level. They also reached their first DFB-Pokal final in 2019, losing 3–0 to Bayern Munich in Berlin.

Although that final ended in disappointment, it demonstrated that Leipzig could compete for major domestic honours. The club’s recruitment model continued to attract talented players, while its growing reputation made it an increasingly prominent name in European football.

2019–2021: European progress and the Champions League semi-finals

Julian Nagelsmann took charge ahead of the 2019/20 season, bringing a reputation for tactical innovation and sophisticated match preparation. Under his leadership, Leipzig continued to develop their attacking identity and achieved their most significant European result to that point.

In the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League, Leipzig progressed from their group and defeated Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 on aggregate in the round of 16. The competition was subsequently reorganised into single-match knockout ties in Lisbon because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leipzig defeated Atlético Madrid 2–1 in the quarter-finals on 13 August 2020. Tyler Adams scored the decisive goal in the 88th minute, sending the German side into their first Champions League semi-final. Their campaign ended against Paris Saint-Germain, who won 3–0 on 18 August 2020.

Reaching the semi-finals was a landmark achievement for a club founded only eleven years earlier. Leipzig had shown that their recruitment strategy and tactical approach could succeed against some of Europe’s most established teams.

The club reached another DFB-Pokal final in 2021 but lost 4–1 to Borussia Dortmund. Despite the defeat, Leipzig continued to establish themselves among Germany’s leading sides and maintained their ambitions in domestic and European competition.

2022–2023: First major trophies and a historic double cup success

RB Leipzig finally secured their first major men’s senior trophy in 2022. In the DFB-Pokal final on 21 May, they faced SC Freiburg at Berlin’s Olympiastadion. The match finished 1–1 after extra time, with Leipzig winning 4–2 on penalties. Goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi and the team’s composure during the shoot-out helped deliver a landmark victory.

The success was particularly significant after previous final defeats in 2019 and 2021. Leipzig had turned repeated near misses into silverware and established themselves as winners in one of German football’s major competitions.

They defended the DFB-Pokal successfully in 2023, defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final on 3 June. Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring before Dominik Szoboszlai added a second goal. Winning consecutive editions confirmed Leipzig’s growing ability to deliver in knockout football.

The 2022/23 Bundesliga season also brought individual recognition. Christopher Nkunku scored 16 league goals and finished as the joint Bundesliga top scorer alongside Werder Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug. Leipzig ended the campaign in third place, securing another Champions League qualification.

On 12 August 2023, Leipzig added the German Supercup to their honours list by defeating Bayern Munich 3–0. Dani Olmo scored all three goals, producing a hat-trick in a performance that gave Leipzig another memorable victory over Germany’s most successful modern club.

2024 onwards: Building on an established Bundesliga position

Leipzig continued to compete among the Bundesliga’s leading teams, although their progress has not been entirely straightforward. In the 2024/25 season, they finished seventh in the league and missed out on European qualification, ending a run of regular participation in continental competitions.

The response was important for a club whose ambitions extend beyond domestic cup victories. In 2025/26, Leipzig returned to the Bundesliga’s top three, finishing third and securing qualification for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League. The result restored their place among Germany’s leading competitors and provided a platform for the next stage of the club’s development.

Off the pitch, the club has also expanded its commitment to youth development and women’s football. RB Leipzig’s women’s team won the 2. Frauen-Bundesliga in 2022/23 and entered the Frauen-Bundesliga in the 2023/24 season. The wider development programme reflects the club’s ambition to build a sustainable football structure rather than focus exclusively on the men’s first team.

RB Leipzig’s history remains unusual in German football. Founded in 2009, the club rose from the fifth division, reached the Bundesliga in 2016, reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2020 and won consecutive DFB-Pokal titles in 2022 and 2023. Their journey has brought trophies, talented players and significant controversy in roughly equal measure.

Whether supporters admire their modern footballing model or question the commercial influence behind it, RB Leipzig have become an important part of the Bundesliga landscape. Their next challenge is to convert consistent competitiveness into further domestic and European success while continuing to develop the players who will shape the club’s future.