2020–21 Bundesliga

Bundesliga 2020–21
Season information
Dates	18 September 2020 – 22 May 2021
Winners	Bayern Munich 30th Bundesliga title 31st German title
Relegated	Werder Bremen Schalke 04
Continental cup qualifiers
UEFA Champions League	Bayern Munich RB Leipzig Borussia Dortmund VfL Wolfsburg
UEFA Europa League	Eintracht Frankfurt Bayer Leverkusen
Europa Conference League	Union Berlin
Season statistics
Matches played	306
Goals scored	928
Average	3.03 (per match)
Top goalscorer	Robert Lewandowski (41 goals)
Biggest home win	Bayern 8–0 Schalke
Biggest away win	Dortmund 1–5 Stuttgart Köln 0–4 Leverkusen Schalke 0–4 Munich Bielefeld 1–5 Frankfurt Schalke 0–4 Dortmund
Highest scoring	Bayern 8–0 Schalke
← 2019–20	2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Bundesliga was the 58th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 18 September 2020 and concluded on 22 May 2021. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 21 August 2020 and conclude on 15 May 2021, though this was delayed due to postponement of the previous season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fixtures were announced on 7 August 2020.

Bayern Munich were the defending champions and successfully defended their title, winning their record-extending 9th consecutive title and 31st title overall (30th in the Bundesliga era) on 8 May with three games to spare. By winning their thirtieth Bundesliga title, Bayern Munich are honoured with a fifth gold star on their team badges and shirts.

Robert Lewandowski set a new record for goals scored in a season with 41 for Bayern, surpassing the previous record of 40 set by Gerd Müller in 1971–72.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 3 September 2020, the DFL General Assembly voted to extend the use of five substitutions in matches to the 2020–21 season, which was implemented at the end of the previous season to lessen the impact of fixture congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of five substitutes, based on the decision of competition organisers, had been extended by IFAB until 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season began with matches behind closed doors or at reduced capacity due to restrictions across German states. Leipzig allowed up to 8,500 spectators to begin the season, while regulations in Berlin allowed for up to 5,000 supporters.

Summary

Bayern Munich began the season less than a month after defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, as the match had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In their first game, they beat Schalke 04 8–0, and were the dominant side early on in the season. After a 3–2 away victory over title contenders Borussia Dortmund in November, many pundits praised Bayern as the best team in Europe. This praise continued all season long, with former Bayern manager Pep Guardiola proclaiming them the best club in Europe in March. Bayern mathematically confirmed their ninth consecutive Bundesliga title on 8 May 2021 with three matches to spare, following closest contender RB Leipzig's 2–3 loss to Dortmund. The title was Bayern's 30th Bundesliga and 31st German championship overall, which would see them add a fifth star to their badge in the following season.

Meanwhile, Schalke 04 endured a disaster season, failing to win a game in nine consecutive months dating back to the previous season, before defeating a fourth-tier club in the German Cup. They failed to win thirty Bundesliga matches in a row, falling one short of the all-time record set by Tasmania Berlin in 1965–66, before a 4–0 win against 1899 Hoffenheim in January. Schalke had announced before the season that they had debts of over 200 million, which led them to slash spending. The poor results led to departures for executives and managers. Former Schalke star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar returned to Schalke from Ajax in January in an attempt to stave off relegation, but he was unable to prevent Schalke from being relegated for the first time in over thirty years.

A hot start to the season for Robert Lewandowski led to early talk that he could break Gerd Müller's 49-year-old record of 40 goals scored in one Bundesliga season, with teammate Thomas Müller suggesting it could happen back in October. Lewandowski capped off a successful year in December by winning his first FIFA Men's Player of the Year award. As Lewandowski continued his strong performances, interest in him overtaking Müller's record grew from various media outlets. However, a knee injury suffered whilst on international duty on 31 March threatened Lewandowski's record-chase and kept him out of action for a month. Lewandowski returned to action in April, just five goals away from equalling the single-season goal record. On 15 May 2021, Lewandowski scored his 40th goal of the season against SC Freiburg with one match to spare, therefore equalling Gerd Müller's record tally from 1971–72. In the last match of the season the following week, Lewandowski scored his 41st league goal in the final minute of the match against FC Augsburg to break Müller's record.

Teams

A total of 18 teams participate in the 2020–21 edition of the Bundesliga. As of 20 June 2020, 16 teams have confirmed their place in the league.

Team changes

Promoted from 2019–20 2. Bundesliga	Relegated from 2019–20 Bundesliga
Arminia Bielefeld VfB Stuttgart	Fortuna Düsseldorf SC Paderborn

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
FC Augsburg	Augsburg	WWK Arena	30,660
Hertha BSC	Berlin	Olympiastadion	74,649
Union Berlin	Berlin	Stadion An der Alten Försterei	22,012
Arminia Bielefeld	Bielefeld	Schüco-Arena	27,300
Werder Bremen	Bremen	Wohninvest Weserstadion	42,100
Borussia Dortmund	Dortmund	Signal Iduna Park	81,365
Eintracht Frankfurt	Frankfurt	Commerzbank-Arena	51,500
SC Freiburg	Freiburg im Breisgau	Schwarzwald-Stadion	24,000
1899 Hoffenheim	Sinsheim	PreZero Arena	30,150
1. FC Köln	Cologne	RheinEnergieStadion	49,698
RB Leipzig	Leipzig	Red Bull Arena	42,558
Bayer Leverkusen	Leverkusen	BayArena	30,210
Mainz 05	Mainz	Opel Arena	34,000
Borussia Mönchengladbach	Mönchengladbach	Borussia-Park	59,724
Bayern Munich	Munich	Allianz Arena	75,000
Schalke 04	Gelsenkirchen	Veltins-Arena	62,271
VfB Stuttgart	Stuttgart	Mercedes-Benz Arena	60,449
VfL Wolfsburg	Wolfsburg	Volkswagen Arena	30,000

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
				Front	Sleeve
FC Augsburg	Heiko Herrlich	Jeffrey Gouweleeuw	Nike	WWK	Siegmund
Hertha BSC	Bruno Labbadia	Dedryck Boyata	Nike		Hyundai Motor Company
Union Berlin	Urs Fischer	Christopher Trimmel	Adidas	Aroundtown	wefox
Arminia Bielefeld	Uwe Neuhaus	Fabian Klos	Macron	Schüco	JAB Anstoetz Textilien
Werder Bremen	Florian Kohfeldt	Niklas Moisander	Umbro	Wiesenhof	Toutou
Borussia Dortmund	Lucien Favre	Marco Reus	Puma	1&1 Ionos	Opel
Eintracht Frankfurt	Adi Hütter	David Abraham	Nike	Indeed.com
SC Freiburg	Christian Streich	Christian Günter	Hummel	Schwarzwaldmilch	Badenova
1899 Hoffenheim	Sebastian Hoeneß	Benjamin Hübner	Joma	SAP	SNP
1. FC Köln	Markus Gisdol	Jonas Hector	Uhlsport	REWE	DEVK
RB Leipzig	Julian Nagelsmann	Marcel Sabitzer	Nike	Red Bull	CG Immobilien
Bayer Leverkusen	Peter Bosz	Charles Aránguiz	Jako	Barmenia Versicherungen	Kieser Training
Mainz 05	Jan-Moritz Lichte	Danny Latza	Kappa	Kömmerling	fb88.com
Borussia Mönchengladbach	Marco Rose	Lars Stindl	Puma	flatex	Sonepar
Bayern Munich	Hans-Dieter Flick	Manuel Neuer	Adidas	Deutsche Telekom	Qatar Airways
Schalke 04	Manuel Baum	Omar Mascarell	Umbro	Gazprom	Harfid
VfB Stuttgart	Pellegrino Matarazzo	Gonzalo Castro	Jako	Mercedes-Benz Bank	Mercedes-Benz EQ
VfL Wolfsburg	Oliver Glasner	Josuha Guilavogui	Nike	Volkswagen	Linglong Tire

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing	Manner	Exit date		Position in table	Incoming	Incoming date
			Announced on	Departed on			Announced on	Arrived on
1899 Hoffenheim	Template:Ill Marcel Rapp Kai Herdling (interim)	End of caretaker spell	9 June 2020	30 June 2020	Pre-season	Sebastian Hoeneß	27 July 2020
Schalke 04	David Wagner	Sacked	27 September 2020		18th	Manuel Baum	30 September 2020
Mainz 05	Achim Beierlorzer		28 September 2020		17th	Jan-Moritz Lichte (interim)	28 September 2020
Borussia Dortmund	Lucien Favre		13 December 2020		5th	Edin Terzić (interim)	13 December 2020
Schalke 04	Manuel Baum		18 December 2020		18th	Huub Stevens (interim)	18 December 2020
	Huub Stevens (interim)	End of caretaker spell	22 December 2020			Christian Gross	27 December 2020
Mainz 05	Jan-Moritz Lichte (interim)	Sacked	28 December 2020		17th	Jan Siewert (interim)	28 December 2020
	Jan Siewert (interim)	End of caretaker spell	4 January 2021			Bo Svensson	4 January 2021
Hertha BSC	Bruno Labbadia	Sacked	24 January 2021		13th	Pál Dárdai	25 January 2021
Schalke 04	Christian Gross		28 February 2021		18th	Dimitrios Grammozis	2 March 2021
Arminia Bielefeld	Uwe Neuhaus		1 March 2021		16th	Frank Kramer	2 March 2021
Bayer Leverkusen	Peter Bosz		23 March 2021		6th	Hannes Wolf (interim)	23 March 2021
1. FC Köln	Markus Gisdol		11 April 2021		17th	Friedhelm Funkel	12 April 2021
FC Augsburg	Heiko Herrlich		26 April 2021		13th	Markus Weinzierl	26 April 2021
Werder Bremen	Florian Kohfeldt		16 May 2021		16th	Thomas Schaaf (interim)	16 May 2021

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bayern Munich (C)	34	24	6	4	99	44	+55	78	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	RB Leipzig	34	19	8	7	60	32	+28	65
3	Borussia Dortmund	34	20	4	10	75	46	+29	64
4	VfL Wolfsburg	34	17	10	7	61	37	+24	61
5	Eintracht Frankfurt	34	16	12	6	69	53	+16	60	Qualification to Europa League group stage
6	Bayer Leverkusen	34	14	10	10	53	39	+14	52
7	Union Berlin	34	12	14	8	50	43	+7	50	Qualification to Europa Conference League play-off round
8	Borussia Mönchengladbach	34	13	10	11	64	56	+8	49
9	VfB Stuttgart	34	12	9	13	56	55	+1	45
10	SC Freiburg	34	12	9	13	52	52	0	45
11	1899 Hoffenheim	34	11	10	13	52	54	−2	43
12	Mainz 05	34	10	9	15	39	56	−17	39
13	FC Augsburg	34	10	6	18	36	54	−18	36
14	Hertha BSC	34	8	11	15	41	52	−11	35
15	Arminia Bielefeld	34	9	8	17	26	52	−26	35
16	1. FC Köln  (O)	34	8	9	17	34	60	−26	33	Qualification to relegation play-offs
17	Werder Bremen  (R)	34	7	10	17	36	57	−21	31	Relegation to 2. Bundesliga
18	Schalke 04  (R)	34	3	7	24	25	86	−61	16

Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Results

Home \ Away	AUG	BSC	UNB	BIE	BRE	DOR	FRA	FRE	HOF	KÖL	LEI	LEV	MAI	MÖN	MUN	SCH	STU	WOL
FC Augsburg	—	0–3	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	2–3	0–2	1–1	3–1	3–1	0–1	2–2	1–4	0–2
Hertha BSC	2–1	—	3–1	0–0	1–4	2–5	1–3	3–0	0–3	0–0	0–3	3–0	0–0	2–2	0–1	3–0	0–2	1–1
Union Berlin	1–3	1–1	—	5–0	3–1	2–1	3–3	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–2
Arminia Bielefeld	0–1	1–0	0–0	—	0–2	0–2	1–5	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	0–1	1–4	1–0	3–0	0–3
Werder Bremen	2–0	1–4	0–2	1–0	—	1–2	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–4	0–0	0–1	2–4	1–3	1–1	1–2	1–2
Borussia Dortmund	3–1	2–0	2–0	3–0	4–1	—	1–2	4–0	2–2	1–2	3–2	3–1	1–1	3–0	2–3	3–0	1–5	2–0
Eintracht Frankfurt	2–0	3–1	5–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	3–1	2–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	3–3	2–1	3–1	1–1	4–3
SC Freiburg	2–0	4–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	2–2	—	1–1	5–0	0–3	2–4	1–3	2–2	2–2	4–0	2–1	1–1
1899 Hoffenheim	3–1	2–1	1–3	0–0	4–0	0–1	1–3	1–3	—	3–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	3–2	4–1	4–2	3–3	2–1
1. FC Köln	0–1	0–0	1–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	1–4	2–3	—	2–1	0–4	2–3	1–3	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–2
RB Leipzig	2–1	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	3–0	0–0	0–0	—	1–0	3–1	3–2	0–1	4–0	2–0	2–2
Bayer Leverkusen	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–1	1–2	4–1	3–0	1–1	—	2–2	4–3	1–2	2–1	5–2	0–1
Mainz 05	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–3	0–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–2	0–1	—	2–3	2–1	2–2	1–4	0–2
Borussia Mönchengladbach	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–0	1–0	4–2	4–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–2	—	3–2	4–1	1–2	1–1
Bayern Munich	5–2	4–3	1–1	3–3	1–1	4–2	5–0	2–1	4–1	5–1	3–3	2–0	5–2	6–0	—	8–0	4–0	2–1
Schalke 04	1–0	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–3	0–4	4–3	0–2	4–0	1–2	0–3	0–3	0–0	0–3	0–4	—	1–1	0–2
VfB Stuttgart	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–0	2–3	2–2	2–3	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–0	2–2	1–3	5–1	—	1–3
VfL Wolfsburg	0–0	2–0	3–0	2–1	5–3	0–2	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–0	2–3	0–0	2–3	5–0	1–0	—

Source: DFB
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

All times are CEST (UTC+2).

Overview

Team #1	Agg.	Team #2	1st leg	2nd leg
1. FC Köln (B)	5–2	Holstein Kiel (2B)	0–1	5–1

Matches

26 May 2021 (2021-05-26) 18:30	1. FC Köln	0–1	Holstein Kiel	RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne Attendance: 0 Referee: Felix Zwayer
		Report	Lorenz  59'

---

29 May 2021 (2021-05-29) 18:00	Holstein Kiel	1–5	1. FC Köln	Holstein-Stadion, Kiel Attendance: 2,334 Referee: Deniz Aytekin
	Lee  4'	Report	Hector  3' Andersson  6', 13' Czichos  39' Skhiri  84'

1. FC Köln won 5–2 on aggregate, and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

Statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	41
2	André Silva	Eintracht Frankfurt	28
3	Erling Haaland	Borussia Dortmund	27
4	Andrej Kramarić	1899 Hoffenheim	20
	Wout Weghorst	VfL Wolfsburg
6	Saša Kalajdžić	VfB Stuttgart	16
7	Lars Stindl	Borussia Mönchengladbach	14
8	Lucas Alario	Bayer Leverkusen	11
	Max Kruse	Union Berlin
	Thomas Müller	Bayern Munich
	Silas Wamangituka	VfB Stuttgart

Top assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Thomas Müller	Bayern Munich	18
2	Filip Kostić	Eintracht Frankfurt	14
3	Daichi Kamada	Eintracht Frankfurt	12
4	Jonas Hofmann	Borussia Mönchengladbach	11
	Jadon Sancho	Borussia Dortmund
6	Kingsley Coman	Bayern Munich	10
	Moussa Diaby	Bayer Leverkusen
	Vincenzo Grifo	SC Freiburg
	Raphaël Guerreiro	Borussia Dortmund
	Joshua Kimmich	Bayern Munich

Hat-tricks

Player	Club	Against	Result	Date
Serge Gnabry	Bayern Munich	Schalke 04	8–0 (H)	02020-09-18-18 September 2020
Andrej Kramarić	1899 Hoffenheim	1. FC Köln	3–2 (A)	02020-09-19-19 September 2020
Niclas Füllkrug	Werder Bremen	Schalke 04	3–1 (A)	02020-09-26-26 September 2020
Robert Lewandowski4	Bayern Munich	Hertha BSC	4–3 (H)	02020-10-04-4 October 2020
Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	Eintracht Frankfurt	5–0 (H)	02020-10-24-24 October 2020
Erling Haaland4	Borussia Dortmund	Hertha BSC	5–2 (A)	02020-11-21-21 November 2020
Jean-Philippe Mateta	Mainz 05	SC Freiburg	3–1 (A)	02020-11-22-22 November 2020
Lars Stindl	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Eintracht Frankfurt	3–3 (A)	02020-12-15-15 December 2020
Matthew Hoppe	Schalke 04	1899 Hoffenheim	4–0 (H)	02021-01-09-9 January 2021
Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	Borussia Dortmund	4–2 (H)	02021-03-06-6 March 2021
Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	VfB Stuttgart	4–0 (H)	02021-03-20-20 March 2021
Joel Pohjanpalo	Union Berlin	Werder Bremen	3–1 (H)	02021-04-24-24 April 2021
Josip Brekalo	VfL Wolfsburg	Union Berlin	3–0 (H)	02021-05-08-8 May 2021
Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	Borussia Mönchengladbach	6–0 (H)	02021-05-08-8 May 2021

• ⁴ Player scored four goals.

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Péter Gulácsi	RB Leipzig	15
2	Koen Casteels	VfL Wolfsburg	14
3	Stefan Ortega	Arminia Bielefeld	11
4	Manuel Neuer	Bayern Munich	9
5	Lukáš Hrádecký	Bayer Leverkusen	8
	Alexander Schwolow	Hertha BSC
7	Rafał Gikiewicz	FC Augsburg	7
	Marwin Hitz	Borussia Dortmund
9	Oliver Baumann	1899 Hoffenheim	6
	Florian Müller	SC Freiburg
	Jiří Pavlenka	Werder Bremen
	Yann Sommer	Borussia Mönchengladbach

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month		Rookie of the Month		Goal of the Month
	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
September	Andrej Kramarić	1899 Hoffenheim	Jude Bellingham	Borussia Dortmund	Joshua Kimmich	Bayern Munich
October	Robert Lewandowski	Bayern Munich	Mateo Klimowicz	VfB Stuttgart	Yussuf Poulsen	RB Leipzig
November	Erling Haaland	Borussia Dortmund	Silas Wamangituka		Valentino Lazaro	Borussia Mönchengladbach
December	Lars Stindl	Borussia Mönchengladbach			Leon Bailey	Bayer Leverkusen
January	André Silva	Eintracht Frankfurt	Matthew Hoppe	Schalke 04	Nadiem Amiri
February	Jadon Sancho	Borussia Dortmund	Silas Wamangituka	VfB Stuttgart	Marcel Sabitzer	RB Leipzig
March	Filip Kostić	Eintracht Frankfurt	Ritsu Dōan	Arminia Bielefeld	Deyovaisio Zeefuik	Hertha BSC
April	Erling Haaland	Borussia Dortmund	Jamal Musiala	Bayern Munich

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season	Erling Haaland	Borussia Dortmund
Rookie of the Season	Silas Wamangituka	VfB Stuttgart

External links

• Official website