2022 in review: Sluggish performances and an emotional departure

In our review of 2022, we take a look back at January and February. Alongside disappointing results on the pitch, these months were particularly shaped by the departure of a long-serving Borussia legend.

ON THE PITCH

After a short winter break, the Foals started with a 2-1 win away at Bayern Munich - a result that provided hope that the second half of the season would go better than the first. However, two consecutive 2-1 home defeats against Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin brought the mood down again. Borussia were then knocked out in the last 16 of the DFB-Pokal after a devastating 3-0 defeat to Hannover 96. In February, the Foals steadied the ship with four points against Arminia Bielefeld (1-1 draw) and Augsburg (3-2 win). It wasn't to be the start of a positive trend though; the Foals sunk to a 6-0 defeat in Dortmund, before at least managing to claim a point in a 2-2 draw against VfL Wolfsburg having been 2-0 behind.

STANDOUT MOMENT

Borussia found themselves in a difficult patch on the pitch at the end of January, when on 28th January a decisive moment for the club off the pitch followed. “I don’t have any more strength to do this job. This has nothing to do with hurt pride, with frustration or with love – I’m simply exhausted and tired,” were Max Eberl’s opening words as he announced his resignation as sporting director. Eberl, who was active at the club from 1999 as a player, then from 2005 as youth academy director and from 2008 as sporting director, shared in an emotional press conference that, after 23 years, he would be stepping away from the football industry with immediate effect. Eberl’s successor Roland Virkus, who was the youth academy director at the time, took over on 14th February.

OFF THE PITCH

• Borussia made one signing in the winter transfer window, bringing in Marvin Friedrich from Union Berlin. The 27-year-old central defender signed a contract until the summer of 2026. Denis Zakaria, meanwhile, left the club after five years and joined Juventus. The Foals also loaned out Torben Müsel to KAS Eupen and Hannes Wolf to Swansea City.
• Yann Sommer was voted Swiss Footballer of the Year 2021 for his strong performance for the Switzerland national team.
• Borussia welcomed back 10,000 fans to BORUSSIA-PARK for the first time since the pandemic for the Bundesliga home game against FC Augsburg. This was the maximum number of spectators allowed again from the middle of February according to the regulations that required fans to be vaccinated or recovered, as well as present a negative Covid test.
• Borussia U23s player Jordi Bongard tragically died at the age of 20 after being involved in a serious car crash. Bongard joined Borussia’s youth system in 2013 and had played for every age group.
• Borussia extend its partnership with Coca-Cola until 2026, its co-sponsor contract with Bitburger until 2025 and the expiring co-sponsorship with Reuter until at least 2022/23. Sonepar and Borussia agreed a long-term, three-year extension to the current sleeve and innovation partnership.

QUOTE

Roland Virkus: “I have enormous respect and a lot of humility for this task, so I asked for some time to think it over. You can’t just decide something like that overnight. It has to be properly considered. After all, you don’t want to harm the club that you’ve worked for 32 years.”