This season has been rough for RB Leipzig, both on and off the pitch.
Full-time. Stuttgart fans, staff, and players alike go nuts, with their 3-1 win over RB Leipzig clinching their spot in the DFB Pokal Final — their first appearance since 2013. In a few weeks, they will play 3. Liga side Arminia Bielefeld at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, where they will be heavy favorites. With how Die Schwaben are celebrating, you’d think they had already lifted the trophy.
The mood for their opponents couldn’t have been more different. Dejected, Leipzig players sunk to the ground, not for the first time in that game. All three Stuttgart goals were gut punches, and while Slovenian star Benjamin Šeško did manage to get on the scoresheet, Leipzig were vastly outplayed. It wasn’t exactly the dream start for new manager Zsolt Lőw, and there’s little to suggest things will get much better.
On paper, things look promising. Leipzig have one of the best squads in the Bundesliga, and can continue to invest thanks to strong financial backing from, er, RasenBallsport. With Šeško and Xavi Simons, they have two players who may well become some of the best players in the world. And that’s just those two: Leipzig is absolutely loaded with promising talent, with the likes of Antonio Nusa, Assan Ouédraogo, etc, etc.
Add in the fact that Xavi Simons only recently joined the club permanently, while off the field, Red Bull announced the legendary Jürgen Klopp as their very fancy sounding “Head of Global Soccer,” you might think Leipzig are set to remain forces in German for the future, with European success on the horizon. That might not be the case, however.
It’s no secret that RB Leipzig is hardly popular in Germany. The club’s official name being RasenBallsport Leipzig is about the only effort they made to hide Red Bull’s role at the club, essentially buying their way up the leagues with that famous energy drink money. And using questionable methods to work with Germany’s 50+1 rule didn’t help. Still, there’s little denying that on the field, it worked.
In just seven years, Leipzig shot up the German soccer pyramid, going from the fifth tier to the Bundesliga and developing some stars along the way. They didn’t stop there, though, immediately finishing second in their first season in the Bundesliga.
Since being promoted to the Bundesliga, Leipzig have not finished lower than sixth, an insane level of consistency from a team that’s not even old enough to drink. Along the way, they have had memorable campaigns in Europe — coming 90 minutes away from reaching the Champions League Final in 2020 — and making incredible money from developing and selling young stars. They would also win back-to-back DFB Pokals in 2022 and 2023.
This season, it looked like the club, led by Marco Rose, would finally take that next step. For all their Pokal success, Leipzig still desperately want to win the Bundesliga, and European success remains a priority. And they got off to a great start.
In August, they ended defending champions Bayer Leverkusen’s insane unbeaten streak, giving Leverkusen their first league loss in over a year. Until November, Leipzig had no losses of their own in Germany, although they had already dropped their first three games in the Champions League. With Leverkusen weakened and Vincent Kompany’s Bayern experiencing some growing pains, it seemed like everything was going Leipzig’s way. In November, though, the wheels fell off.
On November 2nd, Leipzig gifted Borussia Dortmund manager Nuri Şahin a rare win — he would be sacked in January. Three days later, Leipzig would lose to a Celtic side that Şahin’s men had pummeled a month earlier. Die Roten Bullen then drew against Mönchengladbach, following that up with losses to Hoffenheim, Internazionale, and a 5-1 thrashing to Wolfsburg.
December was better, although still far from flawless, and another 5-1 loss to close out the month — this time to Bayern Munich — showed there was much work to be done. The winter transfer window was an active one for Marco Rose’s men, bringing in three new players. Xavi Simons would also make his loan permanent for a club record €50 million. None of that mattered.
Leipzig had a brutal January, with a win over Werder Bremen, a draw against Leverkusen, and a lone Champions League triumph over Sporting CP failing to hide ugly losses to Sturm Graz and Stuttgart. Even worse yet was a 3-3 draw with a terrible VfL Bochum side, with Leipzig blowing a 3-0 lead. That result seems to have taken Bochum to another level — they have since beat Dortmund and Bayern — and sent Leipzig to an even worse one.
Since the end of January, Leipzig have won just three of their ten games. They haven’t exactly had the hardest schedule, either, dropping points to relegation candidates Heidenheim and Union Berlin, among others. During this time, Leipzig would also lose to a Mainz side which is surprisingly chasing a top four finish and Mönchengladbach, which would cost Marco Rose his job.
The Pokal loss in new manager Zsolt Lőw’s first game only amplifies the club’s problems. It’s now a guarantee they will go trophyless this season, having been humiliated in the Champions League and sitting 23 points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Their Champions League hopes — that is, the hope of qualifying — now depend on Lőw, who is getting his first ever manager gig.
Leipzig currently sit sixth in the Bundesliga, just three points away from both fourth-place Mainz but also eighth-place Augsburg — two clubs with significantly lower budgets and expectations. With their current struggles, it’s possible Leipzig could fail to qualify for Europe altogether, let alone the Champions League. This would be, simply put, a massive disaster for the club.
It was always going to be a battle for Leipzig to keep hold of Xavi Simons and Šeško this summer. If they miss out on the Champions League, there’s a great chance that both leave, and potentially other crucial players. At the same time, the older players in the squad need to be replaced — like 34-year-old goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi — so the team may have a much different look next season.
And it’s all dependent on the manager. Lőw is the interim manager, and if he impresses, he is expected to get the job permanently. His experience is limited to his time as Leipzig’s assistant from 2016 to 2018, and after that, as Thomas Tuchel’s assistant at PSG, Chelsea, and Bayern. While Tuchel is one of the best managers in recent years, and a great manager to learn from, his playstyle couldn’t be more different from Leipzig’s high-energy, high-press style.
It’s hard to see what direction Leipzig are going in. While they have solid fans and good ultras, they remain disliked by the vast majority of German fans. Internationally, they have some interest but remain far behind both Bayern Munich and a struggling Dortmund side, while Leverkusen has shot past them in terms of popularity. Winning one of eight Champions League games this year and finishing below 31 teams won’t help Leipzig’s international reputation, either.
Their big chance to gain support was to dethrone Bayern Munich, the eternal champions of the Bundesliga. This would have at least won them the support of fans frustrated by Bayern’s dominance. Instead, it’s Xabi Alonso and Co. that have established themselves as Germany’s “third team” following their triumph over the Bavarians last season. This, coupled with unremarkable recent performances in Europe, means Leipzig is doing what Red Bull fear most — fading from the public eye.
That’s not to say RB Leipzig will completely drop out of the picture. They have a deep, young squad. Their scouting and youth development is among the best in Europe, as are their facilities. However, failing to qualify for the Champions League this year would have disastrous consequences. No pressure, Mr. Lőw.
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Image is from rbleipzig.com.
