German Cup: RB Leipzig route to German Cup title

In 2009, Red Bull was looking to invest in German football. After established clubs such as St. Pauli and 1860 Munich refused its advances, the company shifted to Leipzig. A takeover of Sachsen Leipzig fell through. So Red Bull paid suburban club SSV Markranstaedt an undisclosed sum to take over its license and renamed it as Rasen Ballsport Leipzig in the Northeast Regional League.

Right from the start, RB named reaching the Bundesliga as their medium-term goal and hit the transfer market running. The team would be populated with players capable of playing several leagues higher than the fifth division. The most prominent newcomer was former Germany player Ingo Hertzsch (second from left).

Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz was the man behind the acquisition. In addition to RB Leipzig, the Austrian billionaire also sponsors Red Bull Salzburg, the New York Red Bulls, the Formula 1 racing team Red Bull Racing and much more. In Germany, his move to circumvent the 50+1 rule, designed to prevent corporations from seizing control of professional football clubs was highly unpopular.

RB Leipzig's players received a hostile reception at away games. Many opposing fans objected to how their club was bankrolled by a corporation, something they simply couldn't begin to compete against. In the beginning, some games were even cancelled. RB's path to the top was steep. However, in their very first season, the energy drink peddlers won promotion to the fourth tier.

In 2012, RB hired Ralf Rangnick (left) as sporting director and thus finally set the course for a great future. In Alexander Zorniger (right), Rangnick brought in a new coach who first led Leipzig to promotion to division three in 2013. One season later they won promotion again, moving up to Bundesliga 2.

In 2013-14, the third-division squad included two players, Joshua Kimmich (second from right) and Yussuf Poulsen (left), who are now among the top players in the Bundesliga. In the two second-division seasons that followed (2014-16, players like Emil Forsberg, Lukas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg, Willi Orban and Peter Gulacsi were added. They still form the core of the current team.

After two years in Bundesliga 2, RB Leipzig achieved their goal: Seven years after their first competitive game in Markranstaedt, they clinched promotion to the Bundesliga. The coach is none other than Ralf Rangnick, who, in addition to his position as sporting director, had also taken on the job of coach on an interim basis. In the Bundesliga, however, he steps back from coaching.

Under the new head coach, Ralph Hasenhüttl, the first season in the Bundesliga was very successful: Leipzig didn't looklike a newly promoted team, but established themselves towards the top of the table right from the start. In the end, Hasenhüttl's team finished second behind Bayern Munich and ahead of Borussia Dortmund. RB celebrated the second placef finish as if they had won the league.

Since then, RB Leipzig has played in Europe every year: three times in the Champions League and once in the Europa League. Emil Forsberg (left) scored Leipzig's first Champions League goal in September 2017 during the club's first international appearance, the home game in the group stage against AS Monaco.

RB parted ways with Hasenhüttl ahead of the 2018-19 season. Since the designated successor, Julian Nagelsmann, had another year under contract with Hoffenheim, Ralf Rangnick once again took over as head coach. He led RB Leipzig to the German Cup final. However, in that final, Bayern Munich proved to be simply too strong.

Before Julian Nagelsmann (left) started working for RB, Rangnick would leave the club in the summer of 2019. His successor as sports director would be Markus Krösche (right). Under the new duo, RB established themselves as Bayern challengers, made it to the semifinals of the Champions League in 2020 and reached the German Cup final for the second time a year later. This time Leipzig lost to BVB.

RB's successes helped Julian Nagelsmann secure the coaching job at Bayern Munich. Jesse Marsch succeeded Nagelsmann at Leipzig in the summer of 2021. But the tactics that the American prescribed for his team did not suit many of his players. With RB in 11th place after 14 matchdays, the club pulled the plug: Marsch had to go.

Marsch's successor, Domenico Tedesco (4th from right), got Leipzig back on track. Under the former Schalke coach, the Red Bulls finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League. In the Europa League, the team narrowly missed out in the semifinals, losing to Rangers, but again made it to the German Cup final - and another opportunity to win their first major silverware.

It was the 79th German Cup final that delivered a first-ever title win as Leipzig triumphed in a penalty shootout against first-time finalists Freiburg. Tedesco's side played with ten-men for over an hour of the 120 minutes, but managed to come from a goal down to get their hands on silverware just 13 years after the club was founded.