Bundesliga matchday 8: RB Leipzig 3-1 Werder Bremen
After 8 games played the RasenBallsport Leipzig has made a major impression in the Bundesliga for their first season at the highest level of German football. The Red Bulls team remains undefeated only two points behind mighty Bayern Munich.
The story of this team is quite unique. Created in 2009 by the giant energy-drink company Red Bull GmbH, the team started in the fifth division of German football and over the span of seven years, they are now in the Bundesliga and currently qualified for the Champions League.
One major accomplishment so far this season was made on matchday 2 when RB Leipzig beat Borussia Dortmund 1-0. The club has continued to impress and tied Mönchengladbach a few weeks later. The season will be long but so far the newly promoted enjoys its first Bundesliga season in club’s history as the coach Hasenhütttl explains:
“It was a completely different kettle of fish playing against such deep-lying opponents. We had to be patient. We had to be proactive and stay alert defensively. Space was tight, but [Naby] Keita’s capable of finding solutions in those kind of situations and that’s what he did today. I felt confident after we went 2-0 up, but it didn’t last long. We conceded quickly. Luckily we were able to still win the game.
We’re a promoted club and we’re grateful for how it’s going. We’re on a roll and we want to keep it up, but we’re taking it one game at a time.”
The establishment of RB Leipzig has caused much controversy in Germany. The controversy has revolved around the apparent involvement of Red Bull GmbH and the restrictive membership policy. This has been seen as contrary to common practice in Germany, where football clubs have traditionally relied on voluntary registered associations, with sometimes very large number of members, and where the 50 + 1 rule has ensured that club members have a formal controlling stake.
RB Leipzig has been criticized for allegedly being founded as a marketing tool and for allegedly taking commercialization of football in Germany to a new level. The club has been associated with terms such as ‘marketing-club’, ‘commercial club’.
