In purely spatial terms, everything at RB Leipzig has long been under one roof. Viola Odebrecht walks through the cup winners’ academy as a matter of course and could run into stars like Timo Werner and Christopher Nkunku at any time.
This rarely happens in everyday life, since the ex-world champion has been responsible for the footballers for four years. And with almost 100% certainty they will play next season where Werner and Co. are already: in the Bundesliga.
Eintracht Frankfurt and SGS Essen have already learned this season that they will be competitive there. The second division leaders threw both Bundesliga teams out of the cup and even humiliated Essen 6-1. The next highlight game is on Sunday with the semifinals against SC Freiburg (6.30 p.m. / Sky) – a continuation is by no means impossible. “Of course I hope that you don’t see any class difference in sport and that we can keep up regardless of the outcome,” Odebrecht said in a dpa interview.
Freiburg game as a test run
The semifinals are practically a test run for the coming season. The game will be played at the academy near downtown Leipzig, where the soccer players will also play in the Bundesliga. At the moment they play their home games in a suburb in front of an average of 300 fans. The 1800 tickets for the Freiburg game were sold out within a day, the capacity had been increased by a mobile grandstand planned for the Bundesliga.
As is the case in Leipzig, a master plan has also been drawn up for the women’s department. After promotion you give yourself two years to acclimatize, then you should quickly move towards qualifying for the Champions League. They want to become the third force next to Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg, who, by the way, are competing in the second cup semi-final.
With a young squad to success
RB does not want to buy upwards, organic growth is the keyword here. The squad, which is very young with an average of around 20 years, should also prove itself in the Bundesliga for the most part. The budget will inevitably increase, but multiplying it is out of the question. “We will sign players who have already played in the Bundesliga. But we won’t sign Alexandra Popp or Pernille Harder,” emphasizes Odebrecht.
That might be possible, but women’s football remains a subsidy business in Leipzig too. In the recently published season report for the 2020/21 season, the German Football Association (DFB) stated that the twelve Bundesliga clubs made an average loss of 1.5 million euros.
Odebrecht: Emancipation of women’s football still necessary
Of course, Odebrecht also feels the increased visibility of women’s football. Almost all of the players have agents, and salaries are increasing. The 40-year-old thinks that’s a good thing, after all it proves that the sport has a recognized added value. She sees the decisive impetus for the league in the fact that the so-called licensed clubs – i.e. the Bavarians, Wolfsburgs, Hoffenheims and Freiburgs of this world – have stopped seeing their footballers as just a nice by-product.
Nevertheless, Odebrecht is not under the illusion that things will always go on like this. Financially, the footballers have to emancipate themselves in the medium term and win exclusive sponsors for themselves. “At some point it should be a sure-fire success, but I hope that it will still be seen as an investment in the next two to three years,” said Odebrecht. Until then, women’s football should be seen as “a kind of start-up”.
To do this, attention needs to be increased. The RB soccer players will therefore play at least one game in the big arena in the coming season. 15,000 fans should then make a pilgrimage to the stadium. The Freiburg games could give another boost. Like the women, the men also meet the club from Breisgau in the cup semifinals. “Of course that would be something special if they beat Freiburg and we do too,” said midfielder Kevin Kampl. “That would be a nice little story.” And beautiful stories are needed in women’s football.
