RB Leipzig have climbed up the German football pyramid by controversial means since their foundation in 2009.
Germany’s youngest coach, Julian Nagelsmann, is adding pieces to foundations previously built by Ralf Rangnick, who was sporting director when Leipzig first arrived in the Bundesliga in 2016.
Last season they reached the Champions League semi-finals and, as things stand, they are Bundesliga leaders after five games unbeaten.
Manchester United welcome their German opponents to Old Trafford on Wednesday night after beating Ligue 1 champions PSG last time out. Leipzig had a much easier task beating Istanbul Basaksehir 2-0 at home.
Here are five things you should now about RB Leipzig and manager Nagelsmann ahead of the match.
- RB Leipzig are a versatile side, capable of dominating games as well as hitting teams on the counter-attack. They tend to attack with in a 4-3-3 formation and switch to 4-4-2 when defending.
- Being a new club means no history. The closest RB Leipzig have come to winning a trophy was a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the 2019 German Cup final, and it doesn’t sound like many football fans in Germany would like to see them break their duct.
- Julian Nagelsmann is a manager Manchester United are watching further down the line, as per Daily Mail.
- RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano has been strongly linked to Manchester United in the past. This week The Sun claim United missed out on the French defender because of a row over £200,000.
- RB Leipzig’s two biggest departures were recruited by Premier League clubs — Naby Keita to Liverpool and Timo Werner to Chelsea (via Transfermarkt)
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