The Rise of RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig, a German football team, has been hugely successful in its short eight-year existence. But it is widely derided in much of Germany as the creature of a multinational company more interested in selling cans of energy drink than winning football matches. At the halfway point of the season RB Leipzig is second in the Bundesliga, behind only the perennial champions Bayern Munich, having started life at the fifth level of German football playing in front of 2,000 spectators. RB stands for RasenBallsport, which translates roughly as “lawnball”. But everyone knows that RB really stands for Red Bull, which bought the team in 2009. In one protest this season fans in Dresden threw the severed head of a bull onto the pitch.

Tim Mansel reports for Assignment on the rise of RB Leipzig and what it tells us about the continuing east/west divisions within Germany.

(Photo: RB Leipzig football scarves on sale at outside the club's stadium. Credit:Tim Mansel)