This season’s Bundesliga title race will go down to the
wire.
Having been leading arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund by four
points with two matchdays remaining, all Bayern Munich needed to do to clinch
the title with one matchday remaining was beat RB Leipzig at the Saxony club’s
Red Bull Arena.
However, this was not to happen. Leipzig held the Bavarian
giants to a 0-0 draw, keeping the title race alive. Leipzig’s defense deserved particular
credit, with players such as Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg having
excellent performances to stymie Bayern’s potent frontline.
Ever since earning promotion to the Bundesliga in 2016, Die
Bullen have established themselves among the league’s leading clubs. After an
incredible Bundesliga debut season in which they finished second to Bayern,
Leipzig did have somewhat of a decline last season. They only finished sixth in
the league and failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League. This
season, though, they have bounced back impressively. They will finish third in
the league and have reached the final of the DFB-Pokal, in which they will
again face Bayern.
Despite the mass disdain and scorn Leipzig have received
for their overt, unvarnished commercialism, it cannot be denied that although
this is a team without any superstars, it is nevertheless a formidable unit
with above-average players at most positions.
Anchored by the likes of Willi Orban, Klostermann, and
goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi who has been arguably the most improved player in the
league, Leipzig’s defense has been the most impenetrable in the Bundesliga.
Having conceded just 27 league goals this season, their back five have built
the foundation of Leipzig’s success this season.
Moving into midfield, it can be seen that Leipzig have not
missed a beat despite losing Naby Keïta to Liverpool. Marcel Sabitzer, Kevin
Kampl, and Diego Demme have all had solid seasons. These are not names which stand
out at first glance, but they have gelled nicely to form an understated but
effective midfield.
Up front, Leipzig start Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner.
The two have combined to score half of Leipzig’s 62 league goals this season. Since
Werner’s arrival at the club in 2016, they have formed one of the Bundesliga’s
best strike pairings. Their ascendances have not gone unnoticed by their
national teams; both were in their country’s World Cup squads last year. At
just the ages of 24 and 23 respectively, Poulsen and Werner should have many
more productive years ahead of them.
I have saved the most important piece for last: the club’s
best player, Swedish winger Emil Forsberg. Although Forsberg has missed large
portions of the past two seasons through injury, there cannot be any doubt
about his ability. An excellent playmaker, Forsberg is one of the most underrated
passers in world football today. Ever since his breakout season in 2016-17 when
he was named to the Bundesliga’s Team of the Season, he has been the primary
creative force behind Leipzig’s success.
Despite their gaudy corporate exterior, Leipzig can be
said to be an example of a club that has done it “the right way”. Since earning
promotion to the Bundesliga three years ago, Leipzig have not brought out big
money to sign stars. Instead, they have made smart, under-the-radar signings
such as Kampl, Werner, Ibrahima Konaté, and Keïta. This past off-season, they
proceeded to sell Keïta to Liverpool for €60 million, thus ensuring that they
will have ample money to work with during the next transfer window.
Although Bayern are still likely to once again win the Bundesliga,
should they fail to do so, Leipzig’s draw in a pivotal late-season game will be
a big reason for that. Leipzig might even deny Bayern both halves of a Double
by beating them in the DFB-Pokal final – an outcome which is not outside the
realms of possibility.
RB Leipzig’s success has proven that a club does not necessarily
need either tremendous amounts of money or a history of being one of European
football’s “blue bloods” to reach the heights that it has. Their remarkable
rise over the last half-decade will have surely made them the envy of, and an
example for, smaller teams across Europe who dream of making it on the biggest
of stages someday.
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