HARRISON, N.J. (April 25, 2024) – RB Leipzig have announced that the club will leave Europe for preseason for the first time in the club’s history with a trip to the United States planned from July 28 to August 4.
Leipzig will participate in its first friendly of the 2024/25 season on Wednesday, July 31 at Red Bull Arena against English Premier League side Aston Villa with kick-off set for 8 p.m. ET.
“This will be our first preseason outside of Europe and with the USA, we decided to go to a key target market for our club. RB Leipzig excited soccer fans both domestically and internationally with its unique story, which has taken us from the fifth division to the Champions League,” said RB Leipzig CEO Johann Plenge. “We have brought the world of soccer back to Leipzig with our exciting European runs in recent years and as a host city for EURO 2024. Now we’re bringing Leipzig to the world! We want to take advantage of our good and special connection to New York and strengthen it for years to come. It is an important step for us, but also for the Bundesliga, which rightly enjoys a great reputation in the US.”
While in the United States, RB Leipzig will set up camp at New York Red Bulls Academy in Whippany, N.J.
“All of us at RBNY – and myself in particular – are really excited that RB Leipzig is coming to New York for its first US tour. It will be a special reunion with players, coaches, and staff for me that I was not expecting so soon,” said New York Red Bulls Captain Emil Forsberg. “Not only are the conditions at our training complex great, but New York is also the perfect city for RB Leipzig and the Bundesliga to become better known in the USA. I’m sure that we will have a great time together.”
RB Leipzig have had many connections to the United States over the years, which includes Tyler Adams, who joined RB Leipzig in 2019 after having spent four years with the New York Red Bulls. Adams would go onto score the winning goal in the Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico Madrid in August of 2020, helping Leipzig reach the semifinals of the competition for the first time in their club history. Former New York Red Bulls homegrown Caden Clark also joined RB Leipzig during the 2022/23 season, as well as former New York Red Bulls Head Coach Jesse Marsch, who served as RB Leipzig Head Coach from July to December 2021.
RB Leipzig has also hosted youth soccer camps in New York metropolitan area in 2022 and 2023. Over 300 kids took part in the week-long camps in Hoboken, NJ and Brooklyn, N.Y., which were led by coaches from the RB Leipzig Football School. Most recently, RB Leipzig Academy hosted players from New York Red Bulls U-13 and U-14 sides, where they took part in trainings as well as several friendlies and also attend an RB Leipzig match against vFl Wolfsburg.
