RASENBALLSPORT LEIPZIG (Red Bull Arena)

2.BUNDESLIGA, RB LEIPZIG 1-1 SC FREIBURG, ATTENDANCE: 25,869

A Thursday night live TV game afforded the chance to visit one of the most contentious German clubs of recent times and, in the process complete a hat-trick for myself.

In 2009 Austrian energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull bought the licence of  fifth division side SSV Markranstädt and changed the team's name, crest and kit colours to that of Red Bull, becoming the fourth club in the world to do so following Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls (these are the two clubs I had visited previously) and Red Bull Brasil.

The German Football Association would not allow the corporate name Red Bull to be part of the team name so, in order to comply with these regulations, the club adopted the name RasenBallsport Leipzig, which literally translates as "Leipzig Lawn Ballsports" it is a meaningless name as such, but the club now have the initials 'RB' in their name.

In 2010 RB moved to the 44,300 capacity Zentralstadium in Leipzig, which had been rebuilt for the 2006 World Cup but wasn't in regular use by any team. The ground was actually built on the footprint of the old ground, so the pitch is in the same position. The old terraces are now grass banks but you still enter via the same steps. It is a hugely impressive stadium.

Since Red Bull took over in 2009, Leipzig have moved from the fifth tier in to the second tier, winning promotion three times in five seasons. I will not bet against them being in the Bundesliga top flight before too long. The club are putting money where their mouth is. For example, this season they signed German youth international Davie Selke from Werder Bremen, a multi million Euro contract encouraging him to drop down a division.

It has been used as another stick in which to beat the club. RB Leipzig has been met with hostility and protests throughout it's short history but the flip side of this coin is that since the fall of the wall no East German side has met with any long term success, maybe RB Leipzig could be a club to break the Western stranglehold. The club are managed by a man with plenty of Bundesliga experience, ex-Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick

Visitors to Leipzig tonight were SC Freiburg, who were making another ridiculously long journey for the 'Englishce Week' with their fans being subjected to a 1,200km round trip. A fair few made the journey north to support their team.

RB Leipzig were fourth at the start of play, with Freiburg in second place. On paper it looked a tight game and so it proved.

Nils Petersen (29) gave Freiburg the lead in the first half before Red Bulls levelled through Davie Selke (47) soon after the restart. Freiburg's Alexander Schwolow was the busier of the two goalkeepers as the home side took control in the second period, but the game ended all square.

The legendary Jurgen sinks a few ales whilst watching the game!

RED BULL SALZBURG (Red Bull Arena)

BUNDESLIGA, RED BULL SALZBURG 2-2 SV RIED, ATTENDANCE: 5,870

After a few late night drinks in Munich, Saturday morning arrived with surprisingly clear heads. Today was supposed to be a cheeky double header, but we decided to ditch the 1st game, which was Rosenheim v Ismaning (the homesters won 1-0 for the record) and head straight to Salzburg.

Salzburg is a world renowned cultural city being a UNESCO heritage site, the birthplace of Mozart and home to stunning baroque architecture. Naturally, we eschewed this and headed straight to a sports bar to watch Everton beat Manchester City (why couldn't the Blues perform like that against Wigan seven days earlier?) before having a stroll along the river Salzach.

This was to catch a bus to The Red Bull Arena, which is out of town, and the bus is laid on free. On this bus a local questioned our sanity and said we are rather sad coming all this way to watch Salzburg. He said to be prepared for a rather low standard game. I smiled to myself as if only he knew some of the low standard crap we've watched over the years!

Founded in 1933, SV Austria Salzburg were bought by Red Bull in 2005 who renamed the club and changed their colours to red and white, from their traditional violet and white. They also claimed this was a new club with no history, despite the club being around for 72 years and winning Bundesliga titles!

This obviously upset quite a lot of fans who then set up their own SV Austria Salzburg club. When we went to bar post-match these events were pointed out to us in no certain terms by some fans of the breakaway club. They were making comparisons to Wimbledon/Milton Keynes but whatever the rights and wrongs, it, sadly, all boils down to cold hard cash and if the clubs hierarchy were willing to sell their soul, then you pays your money....

Anyhow, the game wasn't bad and it was an entertaining draw, with Die Roten Bullen coming from behind twice. Marco Melliner (22) gave Ried the lead before Jonathan Soriano Casas (42) equalised.

Melliner (52) bagged his second before Martin Hinteregger (81) grabbed a point for the hosts.

The Wals-Siezenheim is a fine example of a modern stadium, having been upgraded for the 2008 Euros which were hosted jointly by Austria and Switzerland.

Post match it was off to the Augustiner Brauerei Mülln where their strong ale helped numb the pain after a rather theatrical dive in the car park by my good self, the row of local polizei seeming rather non-plussed and my pals laughing their heads off!