"Sind stolz auf das bisher Erreichte!" - Oliver Mintzlaff über die Missão Final

We don't see ourselves as a short-term project. We are a young club that has achieved something we didn't expect. We started the season with the goal of qualifying for the Champions League, and at the start of the Champions League it was our ambition to get through the group stage. We achieved that, and making it to the quarter-finals, especially against Tottenham, made us very proud. Now this big step we took last week fills us with immense pride. The positive side effect is that we all gain an experience we've never had before—the coach, the players, and every employee. This gives us a lot. Whatever happens tomorrow evening, we will leave Lisbon with great pride. Julian Nagelsmann is obsessed with success in a positive sense. He is detail-oriented, and that reflects on the whole team. He is a team player.

First of all, it made me and all my colleagues very proud. Nevertheless, I must say that we went into this tournament with a good feeling. The team looked very concentrated and focused in preparation. I believe the coaching staff analyzed the second half of the season constructively and drew the right conclusions. The team I experienced in Leipzig and here in Lisbon made a very strong and confident impression, which was important to beat a world-class team like Atlético. We are clearly proud. It's understandable that a German team that has only played four Bundesliga seasons and is in its second Champions League participation now reaches a final tournament semi-final. That was a very moving moment and a great evening, especially since the team played great football. We didn't just get lucky; we deserved to advance. Regarding the budget, you know we are not impulsive. We define guardrails and rarely step outside them because it's dangerous to act hastily. We are still in a pandemic, which has caused a big hole in our finances. Every additional euro we earn helps fill the gaps from lost ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship revenue. Even without that, we would not invest beyond what we have defined. We don't have to spend every euro we earn. We belong to the clubs that invest properly, as we did last summer. We bought Olmo in winter, strengthened with John, and loaned Henrichs. We will continue to operate within the framework we set before the tournament, regardless of how the tournament goes.

I wasn't there over the weekend; I just arrived. I had a transfer-related day outside Lisbon, so only briefly met the team. But from what I've heard from the coach, sporting director, and colleagues, the team remains very focused. They celebrated the big step but then switched back to concentration. We still have a young team, but one that has gained a lot of experience. Many players have 70, 80, or more Bundesliga games and are in their third international tournament. Experience isn't about age; we now have a team that can handle situations and pressure. Their approach is impressive and gives me a good feeling going into tomorrow's game.

So, being obsessed with success in a positive sense is something I am too. It's something we love to see in the club because we are in competitive sports and want success. We love the love for detail. Julian, I don't go to his room to read him a goodnight story, so I assume he finds sleep and gets enough recovery. But he certainly spends many hours with the match plan and analyzing the opponent. That's what distinguishes him. He gives the players wings. The team's development is a process he took over; it didn't start with him. Sustainability is key, and many players have gone through development steps under different coaches. Julian played a big part in the next step, as we saw impressively in the first half of the season and in the quarter-final.

That's a good question about the philosophical differences. Our approach is to build a team that can develop. Even if some say we need more mature, older players or stars, we believe our philosophy and guardrails are the right ones for the coming season and beyond. Our success in recent years shows it's the right path. There are many ways to Rome, or Lisbon. PSG has a different way, using big stars. But they have a coach in Thomas Tuchel who is similarly obsessed and detail-oriented. However, our path allows us to work more quietly because we are less in the spotlight. It's hard to compare a world club like PSG with RB Leipzig.

I think the format is great. Everyone I talk to says it's cool and has a different character when it's just one game instead of two legs. Of course, when you have two legs, you get two TV broadcasts and different TV revenue. So I can't imagine it has much to do with the calendar, but also that this year hundreds of millions are missing that clubs don't have. If we put that aside, I find a tournament format better. But if it means giving up TV money, everyone will probably switch back.

Again, reaching the semi-final does not change our financial framework. Our past shows it's the right path. You have to set a limit for every player, define what he's worth, and don't go beyond that in negotiations. Otherwise, you lose financial discipline. For every transfer, we set a budget together with the coach, sporting director, and scouting. No matter how much extra revenue we get, we will not spend more than what we defined as fair value. We have faced many rumors, like Timo Werner signing for Bayern, but he extended, then we sold him to Chelsea. Upamecano extended. So we will with the same energy put together a squad that allows Julian and RB Leipzig to qualify for the Champions League again. Also, our current squad, which just reached the semi-final, doesn't have any players with exit clauses. So we don't need to panic-buy. We only need to work on one or two areas, and we are confident we will have the squad ready.

No, I think the drawn-out season with individual training, then the Bundesliga, then other leagues, made for little rhythm. No one knew what was good—a long break or keep playing. Starting this tournament right after is something all teams faced, so it's fair. It was difficult to define favorites beforehand. The team that best handled the situation would win. So I can't really answer that question.

We must think about what if the situation doesn't improve, if we have limited capacities for a longer period, or a third, fourth, fifth wave. Ideally, the league should address this together. So far, each club has tried individual solutions. At the start of training, we sat with the team council and transparently showed the financial hole COVID has created. Our CFO Florian Hoppe was there, and we openly discussed it. That led to the team, like the management, also waiving salary until the end of the year. The proposal you mentioned is something we should discuss further to define this issue more clearly for the future.

I always said that as a club not in existence that long, we must constantly adapt our structures. That's a process we've had for two years with restructuring. We realize where we need to adjust, become more efficient, broaden, or gain more expertise. I now count us among the five or six big clubs in Germany. Having a single sporting director was no longer sufficient; there are too many topics. Markus Krösche wouldn't sleep. So we thought about how to relieve him and bring in more expertise. We run our club like a business with clear processes, especially in sports because it's the biggest revenue and expense block. Therefore, we moved Florian Scholz, who was already 70% close to sports, more into the sports department. This helps define processes and guardrails, and gives Markus more time to assemble the squad with Christopher Vivell, who knows the philosophy from Hoffenheim and Salzburg and has a good eye for young talents. We still want to sign young, highly talented, and developable players, but they are more expensive. With Christopher, we have someone who has time for scouting. That way, we divided the areas. We discussed this openly with Markus and agreed to broaden and distribute competencies to be more successful and faster in sports. All three daily merge their areas. So far, it works well. A goal was to pull myself out of some team topics. I was too involved in sports processes, especially when Ralf Rangnick was coach and sporting director. Now with Christopher, we have different expertise, so the three have more responsibility and room to operate. This also helps us develop the youth sector faster and better.

We always think ahead. I've said before that everything has its price. Our goal is to qualify for the Champions League again. If you look at last season, it took until the penultimate matchday, and we needed help from Bruno Labbadia and Berlin. Otherwise, we might have had to wait until the last matchday. I emphasized at the start that this is a clear goal, and it is again for the coming season. That requires a squad that can handle the double load of international and league competition. It's no secret that we are among the top five or six in the league, so we need Champions League revenue. Therefore, even though it's not normal, it is our duty to qualify again. The coach needs a functioning, quality squad. If I take away key players without adequate replacement, it becomes difficult. At our club, replacing doesn't mean getting a 28-year-old who immediately works. It means bringing in a player who may need time, like Upamecano. So it's important to keep the squad together. It would take a completely immoral offer in this pandemic situation to make us think. But I would say we will not give away any key players. The team you saw against Atlético, with two players we are still in talks with, will be the core. The players under contract at RB Leipzig will be with us for the new season.