#OnThisDay: Yussuf Poulsen joins RB Leipzig

On 4th July 2013, RB Leipzig proudly unveiled their new signing: a 19-year-old old striker from Denmark, with height, pace and physicality.

Neither the club, nor Yussuf Poulsen, could have known back then that it would mark the start of a success story that continues to this day.

Göz Atın

Geertruida’s Debut, RBL Prolongs Streak: The Best Facts from the #RBLFCU Match

0-0 – RB Leipzig and Union Berlin Split Points

“This Draw Isn’t a Setback” | Reactions to the #RBLFCU

Ten years later, Yussi is still at RBL, and is the longest-serving player currently in our squad. During this time, he has seen the club get promoted twice and establish themselves in the Bundesliga, where they have finished as runners-up on two occasions, in addition to reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League and winning the DFB-Pokal in back-to-back campaigns!

The striker also made his senior debut for Denmark while at Leipzig in 2014. He has represented his country at the 2018 World Cup and the 2021 European Championships, finding the back of the net at both tournaments. Poulsen also took part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Over the last decade, Yussi has carved out a place for himself in the RBL record books. Read on for a full overview of all his stats from the last 10 years!

MATCH FACTS

From the 3. Liga to the semi-finals of the Champions League

Poulsen made his competitive debut for RBL on 19th July 2013, in the derby against Hallescher FC. Since then, he has gone on to make a further 357 appearances for our club.

• Poulsen has made 358 competitive appearances for RBL so far (183x Bundesliga, 61x Bundesliga 2, 36x 3. Liga, 31x DFB-Pokal, 29x Champions League, 18x Europa League).
   
• His 300th appearance came on 28th September 2021, in the group stages of the Champions League against Club Brugge.
   
• The Dane has featured for 22,167 minutes for RBL. 
   

GOAL FACTS

First goal came as part of a brace

Poulsen’s first goal for RB Leipzig came in his fifth game for the club. He scored a brace against Rot-Weiß Erfurt on 24th August 2013, to give the Bulls their first home win of the 2013/14 3. Liga season. He opened the scoring early on, before netting his second in the 87th minute to give RBL a 2-0 win.
 

Außerdem lieferte er wettbewerbsübergreifend noch 63 Assists. (25x Bundesliga, 9 x 2. Liga, 7x 3. Liga, 15x DFB-Pokal, 5x Champions League, 2x Europa League)

• The striker has scored 85 goals for RB Leipzig (42x Bundesliga, 18x Bundesliga 2, 10x 3. Liga, 12x DFB-Pokal, 1x Champions League, 2x Europa League).
   
• He has netted 13 braces and one hat-trick in this time (during a 5-0 win against Hertha BSC on 30th March 2019). It was also the first hat-trick scored by an RBL player in Germany’s top division. 
   
• 24 of his 85 goals for RBL have been game-winning ones. 
   
• The Dane has scored at least one league goal in each of the last 10 seasons. 
   
• Poulsen has also provided 63 assists in all competitions (25x Bundesliga, 9 x Bundesliga 2, 7x 3. Liga, 15x DFB-Pokal, 5x Champions League, 2x Europa League).
   
• Yussi has been involved in 148 goals for RBL to date.
   
• His 100th goal involvement came on 25th August 2019, in a 2-1 league win at home against Eintracht Frankfurt. 
   

Our top goalscorer in Bundesliga 2

Yussi made his debut in the second tier for us on 14th August 2014 against VfR Aalen (0-0). His first goal in the division came a week later, when he scored the first Bundesliga 2 goal in our history against 1860 Munich. He converted an assist from Dominik Kaiser to help put us on track for a 3-0 win at the Allianz Arena – our very first win in the division.
 

• Poulsen scored 18 goals in 61 Bundesliga 2 games, making him our top goalscorer in the division.
   
• He also provided nine assists in two seasons in the second division. 
   

Established himself in the Bundesliga

Three years after his arrival from Lyngby, Poulsen and RBL won promotion to the Bundesliga! His top-flight debut came on 28th August 2016 (2-2 at TSG Hoffenheim). Poulsen’s first Bundesliga goal came on 30th September, when he scored the winning goal against FC Augsburg (2-1).

• The Dane has scored 42 goals in 183 Bundesliga games and provided a further 25 assists.
   
• His personal best campaign in the Bundesliga was in 2015/16, when he ended the season with 15 goals. 
   

RBL’s top goalscorer in the DFB-Pokal

Yussis erfolgreiche Pokalreise begann am 2. August 2013 in der ersten Runde gegen den FC Augsburg. Er traf erstmals am 29. Oktober 2014 gegen Erzgebirge Aue in Runde zwei. Nach einer Ecke köpfte der 1,92-Meter große Offensivspieler in der Nachspielzeit noch zum 1:1-Ausgleich ein. Letztendlich setze sich RBL mit 3:1 nach Verlängerung durch.
 

Yussi’s DFB-Pokal debut came on 2nd August 2013 against FC Augsburg. His first goal in the competition came on 29th October 2014 against Erzgebirge Aue in the second round. The 1.92m tall striker headed in a corner to draw level in injury time, with RBL winning 3-1 (a.e.t.).

• He has featured in three DFB-Pokal finals with RB Leipzig, winning the title on two occasions.
   
• Poulsen has scored 12 goals and provided 15 assists in 31 cup games.
   
• His 27 goal involvements are a club-high in the competition.
   

Impressing in Europe 

Poulsen made his Champions League debut on 13th September 2017 against AS Monaco. His first goal in Europe’s premier cup competition came on 2nd December 2020 against Başakşehir. After opening the scoring, RBL went on to win 4-3 in a thrilling encounter.

His Europa League debut came on 15th February 2018 against Napoli. Six months later, he scored his first goal in the competition in a 2-2 draw against Red Bull Salzburg.

• Poulsen has featured 47 times for RBL across the Champions League (29x) and Europa League (18x).
   
• Yussi has scored three goals (1x Champions League, 2x Europa League) and provided seven assists (5x Champions League, 2x Europa League).
   

Poulsen’s goals guarantee points

Wenn Yussi trifft, stehen unsere Chancen für Punkte sehr gut. Das beweist ein Blick auf die Statistiken.

Yussi’s goals have proven important to RBL in the past, as a look at the statistics will confirm:

• He has scored in 70 games so far, with RBL winning 57 times, drawing on eight occasions and losing just five times.
• We have picked up an average of 2.56 points from games that Poulsen has scored in.
   

RBL’s record goalscorer from off the bench

Poulsen scored his seventh goal as a substitute in a 6-1 away win against Schalke on matchday 17 last season, making him our record goalscorer from off the bench. He then came off the bench to score again against Schalke on the final day of the season to give us a 3-2 lead, further extending his own club record.