Melanie Leupolz


Melanie Leupolz is a former German professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Liga F club Real Madrid.
From 2013 until 2023, she also played for the Germany national team.
FB leupolzmelanieIG melanie_leupolz

Club career

Leupolz started her career with TSV Ratzenried and TSV Tettnang, then she joined [SC SC Freiburg (women)|Freiburg (women)|Freiburg] in 2010. In 2010–11 season, Freiburg was promoted to Bundesliga. In the following season, she made her Bundesliga debut on 21 August 2011 and scored a goal in a 2–2 away draw against SC 07 Bad Neuenahr.
In 2014, she joined Bayern Munich. She made her debut on 31 August 2014 for Bayern in a 1–1 draw against 1. FFC Frankfurt, then she scored her first goal in a 4–0 win over Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 2 October 2014. Later on, she managed to win two Bundesliga titles in her first two seasons with Bayern, in 2014–15 and 2015–16. In 2018, she extended her contract until 2020.
On 23 March 2020, Leupolz signed for Chelsea. On 29 August 2020, she won the FA Community Shield, to be her first title with Chelsea. On 13 September, she scored her first goal for Chelsea in a 9–0 win over Bristol City. On 16 May 2021, she featured in the Champions League final, where her team lost 4–0 to Barcelona.
On 7 March 2022, Chelsea announced that she was pregnant, pledged the support of the club's medical team and said she would play no further part in the 2021–22 season. Leupolz returned to play for the club at the start of 2023, after giving birth, and was part of the side that won the Super League and FA Cup competitions that season.
Leupolz transferred to Real Madrid on 3 July 2024. A year later, she ended her contract with the club, originally set to run until 2026, by announcing her retirement in June 2025.

International career

As an Under-17 international she competed at the 2010 U-17 World Cup, where she scored two goals against South Africa. She was the team's captain in the 2011 U-17 European Championship, where she missed the final shot in the penalty shootout in the semifinals against France.
On 19 June 2013, Leupolz made her senior Germany debut in a 1–0 win over Canada in Paderborn. The following day she was named in the Germans' UEFA Women's Euro 2013 squad.
She was part of the squad for the [Football at the Football at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament|2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament|2016 Summer Olympics], where Germany won the gold medal.
At the 2019 Women's World Cup, she scored a goal in Germany's 4–0 win over South Africa, her first national goal since the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In September 2023, she announced her retirement from the national team.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
121 September 2013Cottbus, Germany6–09–02015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
25 April 2014Dublin, Ireland3–23–22015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
310 April 2014Mannheim, Germany1–04–02015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
48 May 2014Osnabrück, Germany7–09–12015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
58 April 2015Fürth, Germany3–04–0Friendly
615 June 2015Winnipeg, Canada1–04–02015 FIFA Women's World Cup
718 September 2015Halle, Germany11–012–0UEFA Women's Euro 2017 qualifying
83 August 2016São Paulo, Brazil5–06–12016 Summer Olympics
917 June 2019Montpellier, France1–04–02019 FIFA Women's World Cup
105 October 2019Aachen, Germany7–08–0UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying
1122 September 2020Podgorica, Montenegro2–03–0UEFA Women's Euro 2021 qualifying
1221 September 2021Chemnitz, Germany5–15–12023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
1330 November 2021Faro, Portugal3–03–12023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification

Honours

Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Germany U-20
Germany