Hanover (dpa) – The coach of Hanover 96 has shown himself to be a particularly fair loser. “Now I wish you that you get the cup,” said Christoph Dabrowski to his colleague Domenico Tedesco after the 0: 4 (0: 2) against RB Leipzig. Alone: Apart from Dabrowski and the supporters of RB, a large majority of football fans in Germany probably do not want that.
Leipzig are the only top Bundesliga club in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup. The unpleasant task of having to face a particularly strong second division team in front of 25,000 euphoric spectators was completed on Wednesday evening with goals from Christopher Nkunku (17th/22nd minute), Konrad Laimer (67th) and André Silva (73rd). convincing way. But exactly in the phase in which Leipzig’s chance of winning the first title in the club’s history seems to be greater than ever, the already pronounced rejection of many fans against the retort club has increased again.
In the HDI Arena in Hanover, the people of Leipzig were loudly insulted and insulted before and during the game. Coach Tedesco reported afterwards that supporters of the 96ers set off several firecrackers in front of the team hotel of the Saxons the night before this quarter-final game in order to disturb their sleep. “They shot us up at 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. today. We had a short night, slept badly – and then played an away game anyway,” said Tedesco.
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There have always been fan protests against the “Red Bulls”. The fact that an entrepreneur heaves a club with millions of investments into the Bundesliga and supposedly takes the place away from another traditional club there also bothers many supporters of TSG Hoffenheim and their patron Dietmar Hopp. But there are other things for the people of Leipzig. Above all, that they are not just perceived as a prestige object of a billionaire, but as a means to make the Red Bull beverage brand even better known.
Dealing with the Russian attack on Ukraine and its aftermath has further damaged RB’s image in recent days. At first, the club did not want to boycott the Europa League duel with Spartak Moscow of their own accord. When the European association UEFA canceled the two games and Leipzig went through to the next round without a fight, many asked: Why don’t you donate the six-figure bonus from UEFA for reaching the quarter-finals to war victims now?
RB managing director Oliver Mintzlaff reacted to this before the Hanover game: “This discussion totally pisses me off. Everyone should start with themselves first. That’s too much symbolic politics for me,” he said in a Sport1 interview. “There is no doubt that we have a social responsibility and that we also take it seriously. Those who are now demanding that they should donate this and that should first of all donate themselves.”
Depending on your point of view, Mintzlaff is now interpreted as an emotional defense of his club or as a lack of empathy. And in the middle of this tense atmosphere in every respect, the Leipzig team is now trying to finally win the DFB Cup for the first time after the two final defeats in 2019 and 2021.
“We know that we are now being treated as favourites,” said midfielder Kevin Kampl after the Hanover game. “And we know how great it is to go to the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. If we go there again, we can’t miss the chance to take the trophy home with us.”
His coach likes this focus. The fact that hardly anyone grants RB the title leaves Tedesco cold. “You always become less likeable when you win,” he said. “When I finished runners-up with Schalke, hardly anyone except Schalke gave us that.”