On paper, Real Madrid versus RB Leipzig is a colossal mismatch. Madrid has 14 Champions League trophies, Leipzig has zero. Madrid’s squad is full of some of the biggest stars in the game, Leipzig’s squad is mainly up-and-coming youngsters. Madrid is first in La Liga, Leipzig is fifth in the Bundesliga. Madrid reached the semis […]
In 2018, German club RB Leipzig decided to make a docuseries. This series — available on YouTube and the official Red Bull website — would track the final five matches of five promising players in their u19 team. In the end, each would either be signed to the first team or released. In theory, this
On Friday, the Bundesliga season will kick off after a busy off-season. Bayern Munich spent big after a disappointing season (by their standards), while Dortmund and Leipzig reinvested money raked in from transfer fees. Union Berlin and Leverkusen added key depth to compete for Europe again, while, on the other side of the table, Stuttgart
In 2011, 19-year-old Marcel Halstenberg left Hannover 96 II for Borussia Dortmund II. Now, after twelve years, 165 Bundesliga appearances, nine Germany appearances, and two DFB Pokal trophies, he is returning to his former club. The reported transfer fee is around €500k. After over a decade with Hannover’s youth teams, Halstenberg left the club, having
Since its controversial promotion, RB Leipzig has been one of the Bundesliga’s top teams. In the club’s first season in the top flight, Leipzig finished second. The following year, they finished sixth — the only time Die Roten Bullen have finished outside of the league’s top four since they earned promotion in 2016. The club
Last season, the Bundesliga had one of Europe’s most exciting title races. Union Berlin and Freiburg kept pace for much of the season before some poor form eliminated both. RB Leipzig, on the other hand, started the season poor but almost brought themselves into things, hitting a great patch of form at the end of
In recent years, clubs have put more emphasis on finding talented players at younger ages. In addition to controlling a player’s development and finding the right loan moves, it can save millions of dollars in transfer fees. Look at Bayern Munich and Barcelona: Jamal Musiala and Pedri were both signed at 16 and are now
PSG have long been criticized for their transfer and recruiting strategies. Some of France’s top talent in recent years have come through PSG’s academy, yet very few of them end up playing for the club. Instead, promising talents have been pushed further and further down the ranks, while expensive superstars have failed to earn PSG
One month ago, I made my predictions for the Champions League Round of 16 first leg. Some of these predictions were close, others were not. Liverpool came tantalizingly close to the 1-0 victory I had predicted, winning 2-0 over Leipzig. Dortmund’s talent up front showed as well as inconsistency in the back, where they won
This season’s Champions League group stages had several surprises in store for us. In Group B, Real Madrid lost two games to Shakhtar Donetsk but still advanced at the cost of Inter Milan. In Group C, defending Portuguese champions FC Porto finished second in the group, surprising Marseille and Olympiacos. In-form Manchester United were unable