[9] As with FC Sachsen Leipzig, Red Bull's offer also ran into legal difficulties: the statutes of the DFB did not allow changing a club name for advertising purposes, nor for an external investor to obtain a majority share.

[28][32][33][51] On its founding, RB Leipzig aimed to play first-division Bundesliga football within eight years, following the model previously used by Red Bull GmbH in Austria and the United States.

that Red Bull GmbH would invest 100 million euro in the club over a period of ten years, and Mateschitz openly spoke of the possibility of ultimately winning the German championship.

However, under coach Tomas Oral, the club succeeded in winning the 2010–11 Saxony Cup after defeating Chemnitzer FC 1–0 in the final on 1 June 2011 in front of 13,958 spectators at the Red Bull Arena.

[69][70] Also, several players left the team, among them Lars Müller, Sven Neuhaus, Thomas Kläsener and Nico Frommer, all participants in the previous Saxony Cup final.

[citation needed] In return, the team was joined by Diego Demme from SC Paderborn 07, Federico Palacios Martínez from VfL Wolfsburg, Mikko Sumusalo from HJK Helsinki and Georg Teigl from FC Red Bull Salzburg.

[98][99][100] The club signed numerous players before the 2014–15 season, among them Rani Khedira from VfB Stuttgart,[101] Lukas Klostermann from VfL Bochum,[102] Marcel Sabitzer from FC Red Bull Salzburg, Terrence Boyd from Rapid Wien and Massimo Bruno from RSC Anderlecht.

[citation needed] RB Leipzig strengthened the team during the winter break by signing Omer Damari from Austria Wien, Emil Forsberg from Malmö FF and players Rodnei and Yordy Reyna from FC Red Bull Salzburg.

Before the 2015–16 season, RB Leipzig invested further in strengthening the team, signing Davie Selke from Werder Bremen, Atınç Nukan from Beşiktaş, Marcel Halstenberg from FC St. Pauli and Willi Orban from 1.

[citation needed] Also sporting director and head coach Ralf Rangnick participated in the donation, with personal concern for the commitment, citing his own background as being a child to refugees.

[152] RB Leipzig finally secured a second place in the league and direct promotion to the Bundesliga at the 33rd matchday, after defeating Karlsruher SC 2–0 in front of 42,559 spectators at the Red Bull Arena on 8 May 2016.

German media had during the season speculated on several potential candidates for new head coach, including Markus Gisdol,[157] Sandro Schwarz,[158] Jocelyn Gourvennec,[159][160] René Weiler,[161][160] and, notably,[why?]

[citation needed] In addition, a win against Hamburger SV on 23 April 2019, RB Leipzig reached the DFB-Pokal final for the first time, where they faced Bayern Munich on 25 May.

After beating Tottenham Hotspur 4–0 on aggregate in the Round of 16,[173] Leipzig then had a 2–1 win against Atlético Madrid in the quarter-final, with a late goal of American midfielder Tyler Adams, to reach the semi-final.

[175] Under coach Domenico Tedesco, RB Leipzig reached the semi-finals of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, in which they were eliminated by Rangers 3–2 on aggregate,[176] and won their first major title in the DFB-Pokal Final 4–2 on penalties against SC Freiburg.

Towards the end of the year, the club made concrete plans[vague] to invest 30 million euros in a training centre comprising six pitches, offices and a youth academy.

RB Leipzig had previously refused to allow supporter groups such as Rasenballisten to sell their own merchandise at the stadium, but after lengthy negotiations,[vague] the club gave permission.

[vague][citation needed] The organization has presence during match days, where it is available for personal contact by supporters, police and law enforcement, with the aim to be able to mediate between the parties and have a de-escalating effect.

[83] As a part of a compromise with the DFL, the club made a binding declaration that it said was intended to ensure that the management board would be occupied by a majority of persons independent of Red Bull.

[313][314][315][316][317] Notes Having finished as runners-up in their debut season in the German top flight, RB Leipzig gained entry to continental football for the first time, specifically the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League.

[319][320][321] After examining the operational structures during June 2017, UEFA declared themselves satisfied under their regulations that the two clubs (particularly Salzburg) were suitably independent from the Red Bull corporation, and sufficiently distinct from one another, for both be admitted to their competitions.

[335] Having finished as runners-up in their debut season in the German top flight, RB Leipzig gained entry to continental football for the first time, specifically the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League for which Red Bull Salzburg had also qualified as Austrian champions; this raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest between the clubs due to the level of influence exerted by Red Bull over both teams and the close sporting relationship between them in various aspects.

[336][337][338] After examining the operational structures during June 2017, UEFA declared themselves satisfied under their regulations that the two clubs (particularly Salzburg) were suitably independent from the Red Bull corporation, and sufficiently distinct from one another, for both to be admitted to their competitions.

[339][340] In the first season following that ruling, both reached the quarter-finals of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League but did not play each other, with RB Leipzig eliminated by Olympique de Marseille who then also knocked out Salzburg in the semi-finals.

[341][342] Salzburg were the victors in both fixtures between the clubs (3–2 in Germany, 1–0 in Austria)[326][343] and also won all their other matches to top the group, while Leipzig failed to progress after dropping further points against Celtic and Rosenborg.

[357][358] Hans-Joachim Watzke, speaking in 2014, characterized RB Leipzig's activities and the way it behaved as "morally questionable", referring to its transfer policy in close cooperation with FC Red Bull Salzburg, using its signing of Marcel Sabitzer as an example.

[361] A fiercer critic, Peter Neururer, head coach of VfL Bochum, said in 2014 that RB Leipzig "made him sick" and that he considered the club to be built on purely economical interests.

Another banner displayed said: "Football needs workers' participation, loyalty, standing terraces, emotion, financial fair play, tradition, transparency, passion, history, independence".

[vague][384] At its first league match, away against FC Carl Zeiss Jena II on 8 August 2009, riots started when the police dissolved a blockade attempting to prevent the player bus from entering the stadium.

Ralph Zahn, then Head of department at ESV Delitzsch, said that the club had used Red Bull Leipzig's financial compensation to build an artificial turf pitch with floodlights for the cost of 250,000 euros.