Tuesday night’s Champions League semi-final clash was the first ever time RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain had met.That probably isn’t too surprising considering Leipzig were formed in 2009 and PSG came into existence only 50 years ago.Both clubs were looking to win their first ever Champions League but it was the French club who have progressed into the final with a 3-0 victory.Goals from Marquinhos, Angel di Maria and Juan Bernat sent them through to Sunday’s final, where they will meet Bayern Munich or Lyon.But traditional football fans probably didn’t bother tuning in for the first of the semi-finals.Let’s start with RB Leipzig.
Energy drink company Red Bull purchased fifth-tier side SSV Markranstadt in 2009 with the view of making them a Bundesliga side within eight years. They were eventually promoted to the top-tier of German football for the 2016–17 season after heavy investment.To say they’re hated in Germany by rival fans would be an understatement. That’s epitomised by the fact popular Germany football magazine, 11FREUNDE, refused to cover their semi-final.In a statement, they wrote: "RB Leipzig is in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Normally we would have to cover that. But RB is not a normal club. Even if many have forgotten that. 'We decided against it - once again - because we don't want to normalize the RB Leipzig construct any further."
Then there’s PSG.Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, ruler of Qatar, owns PSG through state-owned shareholding company Qatar Sports Investments, which purchased the club in 2011.Not only have they invested a crazy amount of money into the club but Qatar has numerous human rights issues that they face allegations against.
So instead of claiming the semi-final between Leipzig and PSG was some sort of romantic story, Irish pundit Richie Sadlier decided to tell the truth - and he’s gone viral as a result.Appearing on RTE in Ireland, Sadlier previewed the match with his own brutal assessment.Here’s what he had to say:
“They are very unpopular for very understandable reasons,” he said.
“One way at looking at Leipzig from abroad is you look in and think: young manager, really energetic style of football, lovely story, they’ve come from nowhere in a very short period of time.
“But if you look at how they’ve done it, they’ve either side-stepped or trampled over the membership rules that are treated very seriously in German football.
“So the importance of fans having a voice in the club, it’s not considered here.
“Everyone in Germany is wishing them failure, because you think: ‘If this does well, who’s going to follow them?’
“It’s basically a marketing strategy for a drinks brand, that’s what this club exists as.
“And PSG, far worse. They’re run by a regime, which faces allegations of anything from torturing journalists to imprisoning gay people and a host of other human rights abuses.
“So if you approach a game and see the result as a validation or vindication of the behaviour of the owners or the club, maybe this is not the game for you.”
Fair play for telling it how it is, Richie.