Not Neymar and Mbappé – but Leipzig makes an impression, here Marcel Sabitzer and Nordi Mukiele, in Europe anyway.
Image: AFP
The field of participants in the Champions League finals obey the rule of big money. Nobody else, however, uses this as effectively as RB Leipzig. What does this mean for the future of football?
Dwhether times are changing in football is not just due to Corona. The new mode, according to which the final phase of the Champions League is now played, is due solely to the dictates of the virus. But the structurally strongly changed field of participants in the quarter-finals in Lisbon also obeyed the imperative of big money. More precisely: the will of those actors who do not come from the traditional football business and who are essentially driven by other interests. Among the top eight teams in Europe this season for the first time are three clubs that were either absolutely insignificant ten years ago. Or only played a minor role nationally. RB Leipzig with its obstetrician and investor Red Bull, a beverage company, is the most impressive sporting example of how you can leave the old world of football behind.
Ten years ago, RB Leipzig played its first season – in the fifth division, after the club had taken over SSV Markranstädt’s right to start in the Oberliga Nordost in its first season. After an unprecedented and breathtaking rise in European football, the Saxons will face Atlético Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in their club history this Thursday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League, on Sky and DAZN).
.
