RB Leipzig

2006–2009: Negotiations with various clubs and founding

Before investing in Leipzig, Red Bull GmbH, led by co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz, spent three and a half years looking for a suitable location to invest in German football. Besides Leipzig, the company also considered a location in Western Germany, exploring such cities as Hamburg, Munich and Düsseldorf. The company made its first attempt to enter the German football scene in 2006. On the advice of Franz Beckenbauer, a personal friend of Dietrich Mateschitz, the company decided to invest in Leipzig. The local football club FC Sachsen Leipzig, successor to the former East German champions BSG Chemie Leipzig, had for years been in financial difficulties. Red Bull GmbH drew up plans to invest up to 50 million euros in the club. The company planned a takeover, with a change of the team's colours and club name. Involved in the arrangements was film entrepreneur Michael Kölmel, sponsor of FC Sachsen Leipzig and owner of the Zentralstadion. By 2006, FC Sachsen Leipzig played in the Oberliga, by then the fourth tier in the German football league system. Playing in the fourth tier, the club had to undergo the German Football Association (DFB) licensing procedure. Red Bull GmbH and the club were close to a deal, but the plans were vetoed by the DFB, which rejected the proposed new club name "FC Red Bull Sachsen Leipzig" fearing too much influence from the company. After months of fan protests against Red Bull's…

European competitions

Overview

Having finished as runners-up in their debut season in the German top flight, RB Leipzig gained entry to continental football for the first time, specifically the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. RB Leipzig is one of the first clubs to qualify for the Champions League so soon (eight years) after its creation. The campaign also saw Red Bull Salzburg qualify as Austrian champions; this raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest between the clubs due to the level of influence exerted by Red Bull over both teams and the close sporting relationship between them in various aspects. After examining the operational structures during June 2017, UEFA declared themselves satisfied under their regulations that the two clubs (particularly Salzburg) were suitably independent from the Red Bull corporation, and sufficiently distinct from one another, for both be admitted to their competitions. In the first season following that ruling, both reached the quarter-finals of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League but did not play each other, with RB Leipzig eliminated by Marseille, who then also knocked out Salzburg in the semi-finals. However, in the next edition of the same competition, RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg were drawn together in Group B to meet competitively for the first time. Salzburg won both fixtures between the clubs (3–2 in Germany, 1–0 in Austria), and also won all their other matches to top the group, while Leipzig failed…

Domestic

League

Bundesliga Runners-up: 2016–17, 2020–21 2. Bundesliga (II) Runners-up: 2015–16 3. Liga (III) Runners-up: 2013–14 Regionalliga Nordost (IV) Winners: 2012–13 NOFV-Oberliga Süd (V) Winners: 2009–10

Cup

DFB-Pokal Winners: 2021–22, 2022–23 Runners-up: 2018–19, 2020–21 DFL-Supercup Winners: 2023 Runners-up: 2022 Saxony Cup Winners: 2010–11, 2012–13