No, there will be no new fan friendships at the 2022 DFB Cup final in Berlin. Not even common fan articles of the finalists. The bull crest of RB Leipzig is also a red cloth in Freiburg. This is not only unimaginative, but also childish — a polemic.
For those who didn’t notice: A few days ago, the German Football League (DFL) named French center forward Christopher Nkunku player of the 2021/22 season. And absolutely deserves it. And not particularly surprising that the 18 captains and a team of experts made the decision.
In contrast to several million football fans in Germany, I was very happy about that. Ironically, a player from the lawn ball sport in Leipzig, which is outlawed in most fan camps. The die-hard football romantics in the north, south and west may not have liked it at all. Why? Because most of them are not about football at all, but about the principle. Here’s how it goes: We hate RB and everything around it because a rich man is putting money into the project. That’s absurd because football professionals play for money.
Best of six years of cop bashing
In RB’s sixth Bundesliga season, Ultras and other fan groups worked hard to show the people of Leipzig what they thought of them and the “construct”. At the forefront of the creative ideas was once again the muzzle that the supporters from Gladbach, Dortmund, Berlin and elsewhere in the Leipzig stadium imposed on themselves in the first 15 minutes of the game. Similarly childish: Borussia Dortmund has been expressing its contempt since RB’s first guest appearance with a retro scoreboard in Signal Iduna Park that has been reduced to the minimum.
The club crest of the Red Bulls is a red cloth at BVB. And not only there. Bayern Munich also did not want to see their beloved logo next to the two snorting bulls in the 2019 DFB Cup final. “Shit DFB, shit RB” was read, among other things, on a banner in the block of the record champions. With a view towards Qatar and Audi, they should first look in their own cellars for commercial corpses. To be honest, I didn’t expect anything else from Bayern. I was more disappointed that BVB behaved in a similarly small-minded manner. Also because I took the black and yellow into my little football fan heart in the 1990s and they still have a permanent place there.
final scarf? No thanks!
So now the SC Freiburg. The down-to-earth training club from the sunny southwest definitely doesn’t want to mix its Black Forest milk with the energy drink “Made in Austria”. Neither optically nor in any other way (probably also tastes strange). So for the third time in the last four years there will be no scarf with the club crests of the two cup finalists. No souvenirs, no memories for more than 70,000 fans who want to keep their fingers crossed for their club in the Berlin Olympic Stadium on Saturday and celebrate the first cup win in the club’s history. Great. A great idea, dear SC Freiburg! And silly at that. You wanted to show football Germany what you think of RB Leipzig? Strong. What Dortmund and Bayern can do, you can too. Has arrived. Only we knew beforehand that you are not fans of the lawn ballers.
“There has to be a connection between the clubs and, above all, a high level of acceptance among the fans. Otherwise we won’t do it,” said Oliver Leki, managing director of Breisgauer, justifying the tugging around the scarf on SWR, pregnant with meaning. In any case, such common scarves are rarely made. Which could be due to the fact that the people of Freiburg only play such an important game as the DFB Cup final once in a blue moon. Honestly, what point would you break out of your crown in the Black Forest with a Finals fan scarf? It’s about a football game, not a fan friendship. Even the traditional Leipzig clubs 1. FC Lok and Chemie Leipzig would immortalize their coats of arms on a common scarf. There are few city rivals who disdain each other as much as these two. Incidentally, the core issue here is that a club (many years ago) should have received massive external support and thus gained competitive advantages. But only marginally.
Money from Mateschitz: what should be reprehensible about it?
Just so we don’t misunderstand each other: You can discuss the “project” RB Leipzig. No question. Hoffenheim says hello. Only the Sinsheimers were not as persistent on the heels of the top clubs in the league as the Saxons have been for six years. And this is where the problem lies, in my opinion. Not a rooster crowed for RB if they were bobbing around in the midfield of the league. There are many reasons why this is not the case.
Mateschitz’s money tap is one of them. What is supposed to be so reprehensible about it just doesn’t want to get into my head. Whether Bayern without the millions from Audi, Adidas
Oh, and in Freiburg, the pros have been playing in the Europa Park Stadium since autumn 2021. According to the club, the sale of the naming rights could bring in up to 2.5 million euros per season. That was an economical and good decision, which the SC also worked out in terms of sport. This is how business football works and no other way. And ultimately, everyone is in the same boat. Whether they want it or not.
Fun fact: RB Leipzig was the first guest in the new Europa Park stadium
With its small-minded boycott of shared fan articles, SC Freiburg ultimately only copied what FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund had already demonstrated in their finals against RB Leipzig. Because of me. If the people of Baden and their fans feel better about it, good for them. It’s hypocritical nonetheless. And one thing is also clear: If they want to raise the DFB Cup into the Berlin night sky for the first time in the club’s history, Christian Streich’s men will not be able to avoid the Red Bulls.
Longing trumps tradition: Why my football heart beats for RB Leipzig
