RB Leipzig proved to be the biggest surprise of the season as the newly promoted side finished second in their first ever Bundesliga season. Due to the financial backing the club receives from drinks company Red Bull, their success was not entirely unexpected, but few thought the club would clearly be the second best side in the league and set a new record for a points total by a newly promoted side. From the opening rounds of the season Leipzig showed they were set to be a force in the league taking four points off the sides who would ultimately finish third and fourth.
Indeed throughout the season results against the rest of the league remained consistently strong except against one side. Eventual champions Bayern München were the only side who were able to complete the double on Leipzig, winning both home and away in two very dramatic games. Head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl and his team will have to work out how to outdo Bayern if they ever want to become champions themselves. But next season Leipzig will also have to deal with participation in the Champions League which will stretch the squad and give a new challenge to both players and staff.
The core squad Leipzig have to build on has proven to contain a number of very impressive players. Most importantly, a number of new players very quickly settled into the side such as Naby Keita and Bernardo, who were both regular starters and very flexible as they featured in a few different positions. The back four were also very stable, even if Lukas Klostermann was injured for the majority of the season and needed replacing. But the undoubted stars of the season were attacking players Marcel Sabitzer, Emil Forsberg and Timo Werner. Sabitzer with his 8 goals and 5 assists was certainly overshadowed by Werner with 21 goals and 8 assists and Forsberg’s 8 goals and 22 assists. The duo were a constant threat throughout the season but Forsberg was arguably the more dangerous player overall.
