RB Leipzig

German Bundesliga
15 Nov 2030
Friday
Process
224 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

11 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for David Raum

Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Market

Thomas Lemar is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Arthur Vermeeren signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arthur Vermeeren commits to RB Leipzig for another 5 years.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 9.42 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 9.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past VfL Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

No place for David Raum on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at RB Leipzig pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

Back issues
223 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

4 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Castello Lukeba

Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Bence Dárdai shuts the door

Defensive actions: 28, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Dominik Franke has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Benjamin Henrichs stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Benjamin Henrichs and RB Leipzig agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Nicolas Seiwald

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

One of those days for Assan Ouédraogo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.66, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

222 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

28 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

RB Leipzig tear Heidenheim apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Heidenheim, and it could have been more.

Match

Christoph Baumgartner leads the rout of Rosenborg

4‑1, and Christoph Baumgartner took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

3 goals for Nicolas Seiwald

The match ball belongs to Nicolas Seiwald, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Samba Konaté has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 9.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Christoph Baumgartner

Marked 9.52 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Assan Ouédraogo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Maarten Vandevoordt

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

221 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Robert Andrich has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Castello Lukeba

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Castello Lukeba, and the manager let it.

Match

RB Leipzig come up short against Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 8.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Costly mistake from Péter Gulácsi

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Péter Gulácsi knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.26 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

The one thing Antonio Nusa could not do

Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

220 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

14 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

RB Leipzig run riot against Eintracht Frankfurt

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

Mads Pedersen says RB Leipzig went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Thomas Lemar is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

RB Leipzig make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now RB Leipzig have 3 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Nicolas Seiwald

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab in the eights

A performance of 9.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Loïs Openda gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

219 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

7 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from RB Leipzig

Dukla Prague will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RB Leipzig were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

Arthur Vermeeren shuts the door

Defensive actions: 35, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

Willi Orbán has been here 14 seasons

312 appearances across 14 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Bence Dárdai

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Dominik Franke is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

218 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

30 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Only the photograph left for Samba Konaté

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samba Konaté will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

No hiding place for David Raum

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Raum, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.74 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Match

RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Player ratings

Castello Lukeba leaves them behind him

Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

The one thing Antonio Nusa could not do

Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

217 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Arthur Vermeeren shuts the door

Defensive actions: 37, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

RB Leipzig run riot against Hamburger SV

8‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

David Raum shuts the door

Defensive actions: 33, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Robert Andrich has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa in the eights

A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 9.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Ivan Toney gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

216 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

16 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bence Dárdai: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Only the photograph left for Thomas Lemar

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Lemar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for RB Leipzig against VfB Stuttgart

0‑1 to VfB Stuttgart, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Johan Bakayoko

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Léo Pétrot out for 34 days

The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Léo Pétrot, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Boardroom

Nobody left the RB Leipzig dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Player ratings

The one thing Yan Diomandé could not do

Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Player ratings

Ivan Toney keeps on missing

Shots: 15, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

215 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Leandro Trossard says RB Leipzig went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Antonio Nusa raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Lutsharel Geertruida stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Lutsharel Geertruida and RB Leipzig agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Nicolas Seiwald the difference as RB Leipzig beat FC Augsburg

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolas Seiwald. 3‑2 against FC Augsburg, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Péter Gulácsi out for 15 days

The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Péter Gulácsi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.73, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Gift Orban leaves them behind him

Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

In brief

214 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

2 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Yan Diomandé raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Samba Konaté is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Lutsharel Geertruida signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lutsharel Geertruida commits to RB Leipzig for another 3 years.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

A bad afternoon for RB Leipzig against TSG Hoffenheim

0‑2 to TSG Hoffenheim, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé leaves them behind him

Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Market

SC Freiburg expected to open talks for Dominik Franke

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa keeps on missing

Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

213 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

26 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Robert Andrich has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 5‑3 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Market

As if he never left: Cedric Teuchert returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Cedric Teuchert is a RB Leipzig player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

Ralph Busch comes home

The shirt still fits. Ralph Busch is back at RB Leipzig, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Dominik Lang comes home

The shirt still fits. Dominik Lang is back at RB Leipzig, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 9.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio Nusa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

212 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Thomas Lemar has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

RB Leipzig lose Léo Pétrot

62 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Market

Borussia Dortmund are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. RB Leipzig will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Ridle Baku gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

The Castello Lukeba question follows RB Leipzig around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Castello Lukeba’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

211 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

12 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 2

69 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

RB Leipzig say no — this time

The offer from VfB Stuttgart for Samba Konaté was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

RB Leipzig count the cost of losing Péter Gulácsi

43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Nikola Vasilj stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Vasilj and RB Leipzig agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Enrique Clemente

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Christoph Baumgartner linked with a move away

The name of Christoph Baumgartner keeps appearing in other people's back pages. RB Leipzig say nothing, which says plenty.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Leandro Trossard

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

Market

RB Leipzig bring in an old head

Leandro Trossard is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.

In brief

  • Market The shop window has Danel Sinani in it
  • Boardroom RB Leipzig keep producing them
  • Boardroom The board put their hand in their pocket
210 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Borussia Dortmund come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and RB Leipzig did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Benjamin Henrichs has been here 9 seasons

328 appearances across 9 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

St. Pauli join the queue for Suleman Sani

Add another name to the list: St. Pauli have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Suleman Sani. The answer from RB Leipzig has not changed — yet.

Boardroom

$26.4M on the table at RB Leipzig

The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.

Squad

Clemens Riedel gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

209 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

29 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Dominik Franke has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

St. Pauli expected to open talks for Suleman Sani

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

Gift Orban gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

The Johan Bakayoko question follows RB Leipzig around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Johan Bakayoko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Market

RB Leipzig put Enrique Clemente up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Enrique Clemente may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

208 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

22 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Thomas Lemar has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

RB Leipzig lose Léo Pétrot

90 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Ridle Baku gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Mainz 05 are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. RB Leipzig will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Loïs Openda knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RB Leipzig, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

207 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

15 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 69 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

RB Leipzig turn down St. Pauli for Suleman Sani

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Christoph Baumgartner wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab, and the manager let it.

Market

The Dominik Franke conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: SC Freiburg will make the call about Dominik Franke this week. RB Leipzig have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Market

Christoph Baumgartner linked with a move away

The name of Christoph Baumgartner keeps appearing in other people's back pages. RB Leipzig say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

A season on the outside for Loïs Openda

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at RB Leipzig has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

Squad

David Raum has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. David Raum keeps the shirt for now, at RB Leipzig's convenience rather than his own.

In brief

  • Boardroom RB Leipzig keep producing them
  • Boardroom The board put their hand in their pocket
206 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Mads Pedersen asks to leave RB Leipzig

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

RB Leipzig turn down St. Pauli for Thomas Lemar

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Only the photograph left for Stefan Bell

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Bell will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Péter Gulácsi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Péter Gulácsi and RB Leipzig agree another 3 years.

In brief

205 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

RB Leipzig sell Rocco Reitz for $29.1M

Rocco Reitz has left for Borussia Dortmund in a $29.1M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Market

RB Leipzig sell Max Finkgräfe for $17.0M

Max Finkgräfe has left for Borussia Dortmund in a $17.0M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Market

Chris Führich moves on

Heidenheim pay $11.2M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

George Ilenikhena: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Diego Rico asks to leave RB Leipzig

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

204 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Willi Orbán puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at RB Leipzig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Gift Orban says RB Leipzig went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Léo Pétrot out for 118 days

The medical room confirms 118 days on the sidelines for Léo Pétrot, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

No hiding place for Johan Bakayoko

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Johan Bakayoko, and the manager let it.

Market

Heidenheim expected to open talks for Chris Führich

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

203 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

17 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 69 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

RB Leipzig say no — this time

The offer from St. Pauli for Suleman Sani was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Market

Christoph Baumgartner raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ridle Baku

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

No place for Mads Pedersen in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mads Pedersen has his answer from RB Leipzig; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

202 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Business is business: Eljif Elmas goes

Bayern Munich paid $32.2M and RB Leipzig took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Heidenheim come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and RB Leipzig did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Antonio Nusa wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Stefan Bell is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Péter Gulácsi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

201 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Péter Gulácsi keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Thomas Lemar asks to leave RB Leipzig

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Yan Diomandé wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Market

Bayern Munich join the queue for Eljif Elmas

Add another name to the list: Bayern Munich have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eljif Elmas. The answer from RB Leipzig has not changed — yet.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt out for 15 days

The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Maarten Vandevoordt, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

200 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

27 May 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Loïs Openda: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Benjamin Kuhn has seen enough of Borussia Dortmund

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 9 appearances in 48 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

199 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Continental nights are coming to RB Leipzig

Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.

Match

RB Leipzig are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 69 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

The season belongs to Yan Diomandé

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and RB Leipzig have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Willi Orbán: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Arthur Vermeeren

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

198 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Arthur Vermeeren keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Stefan Bell has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

In brief

197 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Stefan Bell: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

RB Leipzig release $26.4M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

196 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

29 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Johan Bakayoko keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Benjamin Kuhn wants to come home

“I did not go to Borussia Dortmund to sit and watch. I want to come back to RB Leipzig and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 44 matches say the rest.

In brief

195 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

22 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 69 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Uwe Müller counts the days

“I watch every RB Leipzig game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SC Freiburg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Market

The Castello Lukeba story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Castello Lukeba signs something — a contract at RB Leipzig or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Squad

Benjamin Henrichs knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RB Leipzig, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

194 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Yan Diomandé is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.91 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Stefan Bell has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Castello Lukeba gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.92 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chris Führich

Marked 8.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Ivan Toney keeps on missing

Shots: 13, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Match

RB Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa keeps on missing

Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

193 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

8 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Antonio Nusa is carrying RB Leipzig

12 goals and a season average of 7.61. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Benjamin Henrichs signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Benjamin Henrichs and RB Leipzig agree another 2 years.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

RB Leipzig come up short against Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

The Christoph Baumgartner question follows RB Leipzig around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Christoph Baumgartner’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Player ratings

Castello Lukeba leaves them behind him

Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa leaves them behind him

Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

The one thing Eljif Elmas could not do

Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

192 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from RB Leipzig

Mainz 05 will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RB Leipzig were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Nicolas Seiwald

21 goals and a season average of 7.54 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Rocco Reitz says RB Leipzig went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Nobody wants to play RB Leipzig right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Player ratings

One of those days for Nicolas Seiwald

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Maarten Vandevoordt

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maarten Vandevoordt, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 9.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 8.68 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

191 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 2

65 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.90 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past St. Pauli

St. Pauli made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Eljif Elmas runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Ivan Toney in the eights

A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Loan watch

Uwe Müller wants to come home

“I did not go to SC Freiburg to sit and watch. I want to come back to RB Leipzig and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 41 matches say the rest.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Chris Führich

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

190 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

RB Leipzig bow out of the cup

Borussia Dortmund go through and RB Leipzig go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Match

No mercy from RB Leipzig

Werder Bremen will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RB Leipzig were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

David Raum shuts the door

Defensive actions: 31, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.52 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Stefan Bell is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Loïs Openda runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 9.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

189 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

11 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for David Raum

Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.48 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

William Bøving: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Antonio Nusa wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Christoph Baumgartner

Marked 9.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 9.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

RB Leipzig get the job done against VfL Wolfsburg

A 2‑0 win over VfL Wolfsburg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

The team sheet said everything about Christoph Baumgartner

Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Christoph Baumgartner.

In brief

188 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

4 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Arthur Vermeeren shuts the door

Defensive actions: 51, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

RB Leipzig tear Union Berlin apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 7‑0 against Union Berlin, and it could have been more.

Squad

Benjamin Henrichs keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

13 seasons of Willi Orbán

311 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and RB Leipzig know what they have.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is carrying RB Leipzig

18 goals and a season average of 7.43. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Market

Yan Diomandé wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Christoph Baumgartner commits to RB Leipzig for another 4 years.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

187 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for David Raum

Defensive actions: 37. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 2

53 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Suleman Sani keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Arthur Vermeeren

Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Antonio Nusa is carrying RB Leipzig

10 goals and a season average of 7.53. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Christoph Baumgartner

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 9.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Loïs Openda’s goal not enough for RB Leipzig

Loïs Openda scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Arsenal, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

In brief

186 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nothing got past Arthur Vermeeren

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 41 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Nicolas Seiwald

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Andrija Maksimović keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Yan Diomandé

7 goals and a season average of 7.88 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Castello Lukeba in the eights

A performance of 9.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Maarten Vandevoordt

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maarten Vandevoordt, and the manager let it.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

185 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

11 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Chris Führich keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is carrying RB Leipzig

6 goals and a season average of 7.84. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Eintracht Frankfurt take the points off RB Leipzig

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.93, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Loïs Openda gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Loan watch

Samba Konaté counts the days

“I watch every RB Leipzig game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Werder Bremen runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Ivan Toney

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Ivan Toney

Marked 4.08, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

In brief

184 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 14 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

So close: Chris Führich’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Heidenheim moved on, Chris Führich reports back to RB Leipzig, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is carrying RB Leipzig

17 goals and a season average of 7.39. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Willi Orbán wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Loïs Openda signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Loïs Openda and RB Leipzig agree another 4 years.

Loan watch

Dominik Franke has seen enough of SC Freiburg

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 0 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa in the eights

A performance of 8.74 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

183 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from RB Leipzig

SC Freiburg will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RB Leipzig were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Eljif Elmas asks to leave RB Leipzig

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 3

46 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Only the photograph left for Léo Pétrot

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Léo Pétrot will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Eljif Elmas runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 9.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Castello Lukeba in the eights

A performance of 9.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

182 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nothing got past Clemens Riedel

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 40 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Match

RB Leipzig through in the cup

A 2‑0 win over Bayer Leverkusen, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Player ratings

Luca Jaquez shuts the door

Defensive actions: 30, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

RB Leipzig turn down Bayern Munich for Andrija Maksimović

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Ibrahima Sissoko shuts the door

Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Nicolas Seiwald

16 goals and a season average of 7.35 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

One of those days for Assan Ouédraogo

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Benjamin Henrichs

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benjamin Henrichs, and the manager let it.

In brief

181 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

RB Leipzig get their man

The chase for Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab ended with $51.8M changing hands and VfL Wolfsburg out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Market

RB Leipzig turn down Heidenheim for Chris Führich

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is carrying RB Leipzig

6 goals and a season average of 7.81. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Arthur Vermeeren signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arthur Vermeeren and RB Leipzig agree another 5 years.

Match

VfB Stuttgart take the points off RB Leipzig

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Loan watch

Samba Konaté wants to come home

“I did not go to Werder Bremen to sit and watch. I want to come back to RB Leipzig and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

180 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Clemens Riedel is a RB Leipzig player

The fee is $14.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Bayer Leverkusen drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Squad

The season belongs to Yan Diomandé

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and RB Leipzig have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Castello Lukeba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.35 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

No hiding place for David Raum

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Raum, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

One of those days for Loïs Openda

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

Andrija Maksimović attracts admirers

The name of Andrija Maksimović has come up in conversations RB Leipzig were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Player ratings

One of those days for Castello Lukeba

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.61, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Market

Eljif Elmas told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Eljif Elmas has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at RB Leipzig.

In brief

179 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 41 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Léo Pétrot is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.77 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Castello Lukeba in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Castello Lukeba

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 9.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner never got going

3.19 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Loan watch

Benjamin Kuhn has seen enough of Borussia Dortmund

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 8 appearances in 27 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

178 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

24 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Luca Jaquez keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Only the photograph left for El Chadaille Bitshiabu

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. El Chadaille Bitshiabu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Yan Diomandé

4 goals and a season average of 7.72 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Eljif Elmas the difference as RB Leipzig beat Bayer Leverkusen

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eljif Elmas. 3‑1 against Bayer Leverkusen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 8.88 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Fábio Vieira

Marked 8.68 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.47 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

177 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Nicolas Seiwald

Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Ibrahima Sissoko says RB Leipzig went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 9.47 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner is carrying RB Leipzig

7 goals and a season average of 7.47. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Borussia Mönchengladbach take the points off RB Leipzig

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

One of those days for David Raum

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

RB Leipzig see off KAA Gent

Three points for RB Leipzig, 2‑0 the final word against KAA Gent in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

No hiding place for Loïs Openda

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïs Openda, and the manager let it.

In brief

176 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Antonio Nusa wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Nicolas Seiwald

15 goals and a season average of 7.41 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Whatever happens, RB Leipzig do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio Nusa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Loan watch

Dominik Franke counts the days

“I watch every RB Leipzig game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SC Freiburg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Fábio Vieira

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fábio Vieira, and the manager let it.

In brief

175 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Boardroom

New owners walk into RB Leipzig

The sale has gone through and every plan made for next season is now provisional. New owners arrive promising patience; the promise has a shelf life.

Match

RB Leipzig tear Heerenveen apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against Heerenveen, and it could have been more.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

RB Leipzig are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 36 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

13 seasons of Péter Gulácsi

316 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and RB Leipzig know what they have.

Market

Yan Diomandé wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past Mainz 05

Mainz 05 made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 5‑3 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

174 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Cup progress for RB Leipzig

A 5‑2 win over Hamburger SV, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Nicolas Seiwald was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chris Führich

Marked 9.91 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Yan Diomandé

4 goals and a season average of 7.64 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

RB Leipzig get the job done against St. Pauli

A 3‑2 win over St. Pauli, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Luca Jaquez

Marked 9.40 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio Nusa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Arthur Vermeeren

Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Maarten Vandevoordt

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

173 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Ridle Baku keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Yan Diomandé stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Yan Diomandé and RB Leipzig agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

RB Leipzig come up short against Werder Bremen

Werder Bremen left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.33 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

One of those days for Christoph Baumgartner

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Boardroom

Nobody left the RB Leipzig dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Loan watch

Samba Konaté has seen enough of Werder Bremen

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

172 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Arthur Vermeeren

Defensive actions: 54. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Péter Gulácsi keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Andrija Maksimović: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

Nobody wants to play RB Leipzig right now

4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Castello Lukeba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past Lech

Lech made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Eljif Elmas in the eights

A performance of 9.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Castello Lukeba

Marked 8.84 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past VfL Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief

171 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 27 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Match

Eljif Elmas leads the rout of Union Berlin

4‑1, and Eljif Elmas took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

RB Leipzig make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now RB Leipzig have 3 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 9.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio Nusa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.90, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

170 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

13 unbeaten for RB Leipzig

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation RB Leipzig did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Chris Führich: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of David Raum

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Christoph Baumgartner

Marked 9.33 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past Heidenheim

Heidenheim made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.31 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

One of those days for Loïs Openda

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.91, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

169 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Whatever happens, RB Leipzig do not lose

12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Castello Lukeba gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

One of those days for Christoph Baumgartner

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Yan Diomandé sends RB Leipzig past Borussia Dortmund

It finished 3‑1, and it was Yan Diomandé’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to RB Leipzig.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.48, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Loïs Openda left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Loïs Openda will call it something else in private.

Loan watch

Samba Konaté wants to come home

“I did not go to Werder Bremen to sit and watch. I want to come back to RB Leipzig and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.

In brief

168 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

15 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

10 unbeaten for RB Leipzig

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation RB Leipzig did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past Eintracht Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 9.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 8.97 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Loan watch

Dominik Franke counts the days

“I watch every RB Leipzig game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SC Freiburg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Willi Orbán

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Nicolas Seiwald

10 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Chris Führich

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

167 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Antonio Nusa leads the rout of Köln

5‑0, and Antonio Nusa took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Lutsharel Geertruida

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

13 seasons of Willi Orbán

311 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and RB Leipzig know what they have.

Squad

Thomas Lemar keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

9 unbeaten for RB Leipzig

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation RB Leipzig did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Chris Führich

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 9.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

166 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Willi Orbán has been here 13 seasons

311 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Whatever happens, RB Leipzig do not lose

8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ivan Toney

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Chris Führich

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Loan watch

Benjamin Kuhn has seen enough of Borussia Dortmund

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 3 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

165 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nicolas Seiwald leads the rout of Hamburger SV

6‑1, and Nicolas Seiwald took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

3 goals for Nicolas Seiwald

The match ball belongs to Nicolas Seiwald, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Squad

Zois Karargyris keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Yan Diomandé sends RB Leipzig past Heerenveen

It finished 4‑3, and it was Yan Diomandé’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to RB Leipzig.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 9.91 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Still nobody has beaten RB Leipzig

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Player ratings

Eljif Elmas in the eights

A performance of 9.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 9.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

164 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Rocco Reitz shuts the door

Defensive actions: 33, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

RB Leipzig count the cost of losing Eljif Elmas

18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Loïs Openda left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Loïs Openda will call it something else in private.

Loan watch

Dominik Franke has seen enough of SC Freiburg

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

No hiding place for Chris Führich

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chris Führich, and the manager let it.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Ivan Toney

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

Player ratings

Nothing got past David Raum

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

The one thing Ivan Toney could not do

Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

163 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Péter Gulácsi keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Oscar Højlund keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Antonio Nusa raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

RB Leipzig lose Péter Gulácsi

17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Match

Nicolas Seiwald sends RB Leipzig past FC Augsburg

It finished 4‑2, and it was Nicolas Seiwald’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to RB Leipzig.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 9.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Nicolas Seiwald

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.74, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 8.63 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

162 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Boardroom

Somebody wants to buy RB Leipzig

Nothing has been signed and nothing has been denied. Supporters who have lived through one of these before know the quiet part lasts months and the loud part lasts a week.

Market

Yan Diomandé wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Benjamin Henrichs signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Benjamin Henrichs commits to RB Leipzig for another 2 years.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past TSG Hoffenheim

TSG Hoffenheim made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 9.33 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.61, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

No hiding place for Gift Orban

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gift Orban, and the manager let it.

In brief

161 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

27 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Ibrahima Sissoko hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RB Leipzig can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Danel Sinani is a RB Leipzig player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Market

As if he never left: Gino Verhulst returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Gino Verhulst is a RB Leipzig player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

Marc Zimmermann is a RB Leipzig player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Squad

Ivan Toney gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

160 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

20 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Stefan Bell puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at RB Leipzig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Köln come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and RB Leipzig did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

The Suleman Sani conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Heidenheim will make the call about Suleman Sani this week. RB Leipzig have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Loan watch

Dominik Franke wants to come home

“I did not go to SC Freiburg to sit and watch. I want to come back to RB Leipzig and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

Squad

No hiding place for Thomas Lemar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Lemar, and the manager let it.

Market

The Castello Lukeba talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. RB Leipzig know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Somebody is after Christoph Baumgartner’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Christoph Baumgartner suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. RB Leipzig have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

Squad

Arthur Vermeeren knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Arthur Vermeeren trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

  • Boardroom The RB Leipzig production line keeps running
  • Boardroom The board put their hand in their pocket
  • Boardroom The RB Leipzig board put their names to it
159 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

13 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 80 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Suleman Sani has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Willi Orbán wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Loan watch

Uwe Müller counts the days

“I watch every RB Leipzig game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at SC Freiburg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

No hiding place for Ridle Baku

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ridle Baku, and the manager let it.

In brief

158 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

6 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Christoph Baumgartner wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

St. Pauli watching Suleman Sani

The interest is real enough to have reached print. RB Leipzig have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Ridle Baku signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ridle Baku commits to RB Leipzig for another 3 years.

Squad

Gift Orban gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

No place for Ibrahima Sissoko in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ibrahima Sissoko has his answer from RB Leipzig; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

157 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

30 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Benjamin Kuhn wants to come home

“I did not go to Borussia Dortmund to sit and watch. I want to come back to RB Leipzig and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Rocco Reitz

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Stefan Bell told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Stefan Bell has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at RB Leipzig.

Market

VfB Stuttgart expected to open talks for Delé Thomas

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Market

The Eljif Elmas question follows RB Leipzig around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Eljif Elmas’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

156 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

23 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

RB Leipzig lose Viggo Gebel

16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Loan watch

Dominik Franke has seen enough of SC Freiburg

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

No hiding place for Stefan Bell

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefan Bell, and the manager let it.

Market

The Castello Lukeba talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. RB Leipzig know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

RB Leipzig put Diego Rico up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Diego Rico may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

155 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig are in among the leaders

Position 1 and 80 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

Léo Pétrot asks to leave RB Leipzig

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Uwe Müller has seen enough of SC Freiburg

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

Market

The Samba Konaté conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Werder Bremen will make the call about Samba Konaté this week. RB Leipzig have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Market

The Christoph Baumgartner story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Christoph Baumgartner signs something — a contract at RB Leipzig or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

154 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

9 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Chris Führich puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at RB Leipzig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Diber Cambindo moves on

Borussia Dortmund pay $3.3M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Only the photograph left for Delé Thomas

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Delé Thomas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Willi Orbán stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Willi Orbán and RB Leipzig agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

No hiding place for Loïs Openda

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïs Openda, and the manager let it.

In brief

153 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

2 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Péter Gulácsi raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Willi Orbán signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Willi Orbán and RB Leipzig agree another 2 years.

Market

The Diber Cambindo question follows RB Leipzig around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Diber Cambindo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Arthur Vermeeren

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

VfB Stuttgart expected to open talks for Delé Thomas

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

152 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

25 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Diber Cambindo puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at RB Leipzig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Péter Gulácsi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Péter Gulácsi, and the manager let it.

Market

Vitoria Guimaraes expected to open talks for Diber Cambindo

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Market

Léo Pétrot told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Léo Pétrot has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at RB Leipzig.

Squad

Willi Orbán asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Castello Lukeba talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. RB Leipzig know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

David Raum has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. David Raum keeps the shirt for now, at RB Leipzig's convenience rather than his own.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Alan Rodríguez

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

In brief

  • Boardroom The RB Leipzig production line keeps running
  • Boardroom RB Leipzig board back the manager
151 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

18 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 1

80 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Willi Orbán: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Gift Orban gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Market

Vitoria Guimaraes are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. RB Leipzig will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Market

No place for Chris Führich in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Chris Führich has his answer from RB Leipzig; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Market

The Christoph Baumgartner story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Christoph Baumgartner signs something — a contract at RB Leipzig or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Market

RB Leipzig borrow Zois Karargyris

A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Zois Karargyris arrives from AEK with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Zois Karargyris

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

In brief

150 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Robert Andrich puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at RB Leipzig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Antonio Nusa wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Vitoria Guimaraes watching Robert Andrich

The interest is real enough to have reached print. RB Leipzig have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Robert Andrich signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Robert Andrich commits to RB Leipzig for another 3 years.

Market

St. Pauli expected to open talks for Suleman Sani

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RB Leipzig will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

  • Squad Stefan Bell gets it from the manager
  • Squad Loïs Openda called up by his country
  • Boardroom The board put their hand in their pocket
149 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

4 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Yan Diomandé wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at RB Leipzig hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Borussia Dortmund watching Miro Muheim

The interest is real enough to have reached print. RB Leipzig have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Luca Jaquez

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Diber Cambindo is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at RB Leipzig has been clear about where Diber Cambindo stands, which is more than many ever get.

Squad

The armband comes off Antonio Nusa

RB Leipzig will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

In brief

148 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Antonio Nusa stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Antonio Nusa and RB Leipzig agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Miro Muheim gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Péter Gulácsi knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RB Leipzig, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Eljif Elmas linked with a move away

The name of Eljif Elmas keeps appearing in other people's back pages. RB Leipzig say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

The clock does Miro Muheim’s negotiating for him

1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee RB Leipzig could ask drops and the wages Miro Muheim can ask rise.

In brief

147 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Silverware for RB Leipzig

They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.

Squad

Eljif Elmas is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.90 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 1

80 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Match

RB Leipzig out of the cup

Borussia Dortmund ended it 3‑5. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Squad

The season belongs to Yan Diomandé

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and RB Leipzig have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Miro Muheim: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Antonio Nusa in the eights

A performance of 8.95 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

146 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Arthur Vermeeren keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Miro Muheim has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RB Leipzig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Gift Orban gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Loïs Openda knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Loïs Openda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Benjamin Henrichs story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Benjamin Henrichs signs something — a contract at RB Leipzig or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

145 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

RB Leipzig release $26.4M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

Squad

Luca Jaquez gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Gift Orban knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RB Leipzig, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Experience through the door at RB Leipzig

Diego Rico arrives at 36 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.

Market

Johan Bakayoko linked with a move away

The name of Johan Bakayoko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. RB Leipzig say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

144 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

El Chadaille Bitshiabu counts the days

“I watch every RB Leipzig game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bayer Leverkusen runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Thomas Lemar

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

143 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 80 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Arthur Chaves keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Loïs Openda

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Max Finkgräfe signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Max Finkgräfe commits to RB Leipzig for another 4 years.

Loan watch

Samba Konaté has seen enough of TSG Hoffenheim

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 4 appearances in 42 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

142 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from RB Leipzig

Borussia Mönchengladbach will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RB Leipzig were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.96 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Rocco Reitz shuts the door

Defensive actions: 32, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

Miro Muheim is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Nicolas Seiwald

Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 9.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio Nusa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.36, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Loïs Openda left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Loïs Openda will call it something else in private.

In brief

141 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

RB Leipzig taken apart

2‑5 to Bayern Munich, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

Eljif Elmas is carrying RB Leipzig

18 goals and a season average of 7.91. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Eljif Elmas in the eights

A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.44 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A costly moment from Castello Lukeba

One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at RB Leipzig, and it is a cruel one.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Johan Bakayoko

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Andrija Maksimović signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrija Maksimović and RB Leipzig agree another 5 years.

Boardroom

Doors closed at RB Leipzig

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

In brief

140 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nicolas Seiwald leads the rout of Mainz 05

4‑0, and Nicolas Seiwald took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Lutsharel Geertruida

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Nicolas Seiwald

19 goals and a season average of 7.59 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

12 seasons of Willi Orbán

304 appearances across 12 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and RB Leipzig know what they have.

Squad

Thomas Lemar: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 9.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 9.38 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

139 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

RB Leipzig are in among the leaders

Position 1 and 74 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Yan Diomandé is carrying RB Leipzig

11 goals and a season average of 7.91. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for RB Leipzig against St. Pauli

2‑3 to St. Pauli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Ivan Toney gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 8.81 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Suleman Sani

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Boardroom

Inquest at RB Leipzig

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

In brief

138 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Nothing got past Lutsharel Geertruida

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 39 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Arthur Vermeeren shuts the door

Defensive actions: 39, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

RB Leipzig cannot stop winning

9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Match

Nicolas Seiwald sends RB Leipzig through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Nicolas Seiwald obliged against Bayer Leverkusen. 4‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is RB Leipzig.

Squad

Eljif Elmas is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.88 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Castello Lukeba

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

3 goals for Nicolas Seiwald

The match ball belongs to Nicolas Seiwald, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Market

Miro Muheim is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief

137 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Eljif Elmas is carrying RB Leipzig

16 goals and a season average of 7.85. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Nobody wants to play RB Leipzig right now

6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Antonio Nusa raises the bar for RB Leipzig

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at RB Leipzig heard it as anything else.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yan Diomandé

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

RB Leipzig get the job done against VfL Wolfsburg

A 4‑3 win over VfL Wolfsburg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

136 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from RB Leipzig

Union Berlin will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. RB Leipzig were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

RB Leipzig make it 5 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now RB Leipzig have 5 straight wins of it.

Squad

Antonio Nusa is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.75 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Yan Diomandé wants more than RB Leipzig are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

David Raum signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” David Raum commits to RB Leipzig for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Eljif Elmas

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

One of those days for Antonio Nusa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.83 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

135 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 1

65 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Match

Nicolas Seiwald leads the rout of Benfica

4‑1, and Nicolas Seiwald took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.55 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

RB Leipzig make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now RB Leipzig have 4 straight wins of it.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 10.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Willi Orbán gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 9.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

134 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Only the photograph left for Miro Muheim

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miro Muheim will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Nicolas Seiwald is carrying RB Leipzig

14 goals and a season average of 7.50. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Nicolas Seiwald the difference as RB Leipzig beat Borussia Dortmund

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolas Seiwald. 3‑1 against Borussia Dortmund, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 9.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ivan Toney in the eights

A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Ibrahima Sissoko gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

133 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Lutsharel Geertruida

Defensive actions: 34. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

RB Leipzig run riot against Eintracht Frankfurt

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

Eljif Elmas is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.87 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Nothing got past David Raum

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 9.60 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 9.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

No hiding place for Loïs Openda

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Loïs Openda, and the manager let it.

Squad

No place for Willi Orbán on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at RB Leipzig pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

In brief

132 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

12 seasons of Péter Gulácsi

311 appearances across 12 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and RB Leipzig know what they have.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Köln come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and RB Leipzig did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.68 with 10 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Antonio Nusa’s goal not enough for RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Köln, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 8.55 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

One of those days for Nicolas Seiwald

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

131 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

RB Leipzig up to position 1

56 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Match

RB Leipzig run riot against SC Freiburg

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Lutsharel Geertruida

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 33 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Eljif Elmas

14 goals and a season average of 7.81 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

RB Leipzig make it 5 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now RB Leipzig have 5 straight wins of it.

Squad

William Bøving: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RB Leipzig have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Nicolas Seiwald

Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for David Raum

Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

130 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Lutsharel Geertruida shuts the door

Defensive actions: 36, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

RB Leipzig march on in the cup

Hamburger SV are out and RB Leipzig go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

RB Leipzig through in the cup

A 3‑0 win over Hamburger SV, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Eljif Elmas is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.75 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Ridle Baku keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RB Leipzig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Miro Muheim

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miro Muheim will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RB Leipzig the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

Nobody wants to play RB Leipzig right now

4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief

129 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Christoph Baumgartner leads the rout of VfB Stuttgart

4‑0, and Christoph Baumgartner took the headlines on an afternoon when everything RB Leipzig tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Market

RB Leipzig sign Ivan Toney for $7.9M

The paperwork is done: Ivan Toney joins from Bayern Munich in a deal worth $7.9M. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Maarten Vandevoordt keeps RB Leipzig in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Eljif Elmas

12 goals and a season average of 7.69 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Christoph Baumgartner in the eights

A performance of 9.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé in the eights

A performance of 9.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Eljif Elmas in the eights

A performance of 9.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 9.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

128 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Maarten Vandevoordt

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

RB Leipzig turn down Heidenheim for Arthur Vermeeren

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Conrad Harder says RB Leipzig went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Eljif Elmas

11 goals and a season average of 7.64 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Eljif Elmas

Marked 9.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

RB Leipzig find a way past FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg made RB Leipzig work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 9.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 8.57 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

127 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

1 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

RB Leipzig refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 44 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

The season belongs to Yan Diomandé

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and RB Leipzig have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Antonio Nusa in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.56 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

RB Leipzig come up short against TSG Hoffenheim

TSG Hoffenheim left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Christoph Baumgartner

Marked 8.85 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Johan Bakayoko gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Yan Diomandé keeps on missing

Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Player ratings

The one thing Antonio Nusa could not do

Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

126 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

RB Leipzig run riot against Bayer Leverkusen

4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

Eljif Elmas takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Market

Miro Muheim is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RB Leipzig is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at RB Leipzig

Yan Diomandé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Eljif Elmas

10 goals and a season average of 7.58 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

RB Leipzig cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

One of those days for Eljif Elmas

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Willi Orbán gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Nicolas Seiwald in the eights

A performance of 8.98 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

125 Edition

The RB Leipzig Courier

18 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Yan Diomandé in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RB Leipzig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Loïs Openda the difference as RB Leipzig beat Borussia Mönchengladbach

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Loïs Openda. 5‑4 against Borussia Mönchengladbach, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yan Diomandé

Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Christoph Baumgartner gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Antonio Nusa

5 goals and a season average of 7.56 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Loïs Openda in the eights

A performance of 9.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nicolas Seiwald

Marked 8.66 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Antonio Nusa

Marked 8.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Loan watch

Samba Konaté has seen enough of TSG Hoffenheim

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at RB Leipzig, and 2 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief