300 appearances for RB Leipzig: Yussuf Poulsen reaches milestone
The club’s record appearance maker celebrates his latest achievement | Yussuf Poulsen made his 300th appearance for RB Leipzig against Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League
It’s 4th July 2013. Four weeks on from RB Leipzig’s relegation play-off victory over Sportfreunde Lotte and promotion to the 3. Liga.
On this day we announced a new signing: Yussuf Poulsen, a young 19-year-old attacking talent from Danish second-division side Lyngby BK who is athletic, powerful in the air, quick and hungry to play. Our website headline at the time was: National team player as our fifth new signing: Yussuf Poulsen to bolster the RB Leipzig attack!
2,993 days as our number nine
On the 6th July 2013 Yussi was given the number nine shirt. He then scored in a friendly against Viktoria Köln to put us 1-0 up (23’). Yussuf Poulsen was a fan favourite from the start because he showed exactly what he is about in that first friendly match: he will always give his all.
The Dane made his competitive debut on 19th July 2013 during a 1-0 victory over Halleschen FC, and played the full 90 minutes. It’s been 2,993 days since then and he has made 299 further appearances for RBL in all competitions.
Yussuf Poulsen, who made his 300th appearance for RB Leipzig against Club Brugge, has scored 75 goals and registered 59 assists for the club.
An amazing achievement Yussi! We are so proud that you have accompanied us on our journey from the 3. Liga to the Champions League, and we don’t wish to stop there! Here’s to the next 300!
Here are some of Yussuf Poulsen’s best moments playing for RB Leipzig.
Club's record appearance maker and longest-serving player
The 27-year-old’s 300 appearances make him the club’s record appearance maker, far ahead of Péter Gulásci, who has donned the goalkeeper jersey 233 times up to now.
Yussi has scored 75 goals for RB Leipzig so far, the third highest in the club’s history behind Timo Werner (95) and Daniel Frahn (88). He’s scored 35 goals in the Bundesliga, 18 in the 2. Bundesliga, ten in the 3. Liga, nine in the DFB-Pokal and once in each of the Champions League, the Europa League and in Europa League qualifying.
His 59 assists for RBL mean he has the most assists of any player to have played for the club.
Yussuf Poulsen:
- “300 appearances is an amazing figure and it makes me proud to be the first RB Leipzig player to reach this milestone. It’s crazy to think about what’s happened here in the last eight years and what we have all achieved together.
I can’t single out any one of the 300 games because there have been so many amazing moments: my first goal in the 3. Liga, the promotion games against Saarbrücken and Karlsruhe, our first Champions League game and also the Champions League semi-final, when I was able to lead the team out as captain. I’m hoping there’s plenty more games and goals to come!”
Opening his Leipzig account and historic goals
Yussuf Poulsen scored his first goals in competitive fixtures for RB Leipzig on 24th August 2013, bagging a brace in a 2-0 victory against Rot-Weiss Erfurt in the 3. Liga.
Almost a year later he netted his and RB Leipzig’s first 2. Bundesliga goal, putting us 1-0 up against 1860 München on 10th August.
Our number nine scored his first goal in Germany’s top flight on 30th September 2016, on his sixth Bundesliga appearance against FC Augsburg. He netted the club’s first Bundesliga hat-trick against Hertha BSC on 30th March 2019.
Yussi had to wait until 2nd December 2020 for his first UEFA Champions League goal, which eventually came against Istanbul Başakşehir as he scored the winner in a 1-0 away win.
The 27-year-old has scored for RBL at least once in every competition.
Playing in European Championship and Champions League semi-finals
Yussuf Poulsen had already been called up for the Danish national team before his transfer to Leipzig and has scored a total of 11 goals in 62 appearances for Denmark. In 2021, Poulsen showed why he is a “Danish Dynamite” as he scored twice in the knockout stages.
Yussuf made his debut in international club competitions the season after RB Leipzig came second in the league (2016/17), featuring in a 1-1 draw against AS Monaco on 13th September 2017, where Yussi assisted Emil Forsberg for the Leipzig goal.
The striker and our team reached the final four of the Champions League in the 2019/20 season, and Yussi even led the team out as captain for the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Yussuf Poulsen has grown along with RB Leipzig, starting out as a promising talent in the 3. Liga and becoming a player of international-level quality and a key part of our team.
Yussuf Poulsen:
- “I was excited to drop the Red Bull Arena to receive a little surprise for making my 300th appearance, but I never thought it would be a piece of graffiti artwork. It’s an incredible work - compliments to the artists. It means a lot to me that I am the first player to be immortalised at the stadium with this unique artwork.”