Leitl played as a youth for
FC Ismaning, before joining the
youth setup of
Bayern Munich in 1987. He left the club to join SpVgg Unterhaching, but returned, and began playing for the
reserve team in 1995. A year later he was promoted to the senior squad, but did not make any first-team appearances, continuing to play for the reserves in the
Regionalliga Süd. In 1998, he left FC Bayern, joining local amateur side
SV Lohhof, with whom he won the
Oberliga Bayern, securing promotion to the Regionalliga. He left, however, joining 1. FC Nürnberg, then of the
2. Bundesliga. After two years Nürnberg were promoted to the
Bundesliga as champions, where Leitl found his opportunities limited – after just five appearances he left the club half-way through the 2001–02 season, dropping back down a division to return to Unterhaching. He could not prevent them being relegated down to the Regionalliga, but played in 33 of 36 games the following season as they won the title, finishing ahead of
Jahn Regensburg on goals scored. Leitl had now been a champion at the top four levels of
German football. The following season Leitl had lost his place, and only played 13 games, mostly as a substitute. He left the club in July 2004, joining Darmstadt, where he spent three seasons in the Regionalliga, leaving in 2007 after the club were relegated. He returned to
Bavaria to sign for
FC Ingolstadt 04, where he established himself as a key player, captaining the club to promotion as league runners-up. Ingolstadt were relegated after one season, but bounced back in 2010, beating
Hansa Rostock in a playoff to return to the 2. Bundesliga. Leitl started the 2010–11 season with a goal in a
DFB-Pokal match against
Karlsruher SC, the first goal at Ingolstadt's new
Audi Sportpark. He retired at the end of the 2012–13 season. ==Managerial career==