A look back at 2021: Disappointments and farewells

As we take a look back at the year 2021, we cast our gaze once again over May and June. A disappointing end to the season on the pitch combined with goodbyes to players, club legends and even buildings marked out this time of the year.

On the pitch

After success in April, the Foals weren’t able to build on their strong position going into the closing stages of the season. They suffered a bitter 6-0 defeat at record champions FC Bayern before losing 2-1 against VfB Stuttgart in their final home game of the season. At that stage, the Foals no longer had a European place in their hands and were relying on other results to go their way to secure a spot in UEFA’s new Europa Conference League. Under Marco Rose, the team did what they had to do in Bremen, winning 4-2 but Union Berlin scored a last minute winner against RB Leipzig, meaning that Borussia lost out and finished the 2020/21 season in eighth place.

Memorable Moments

Oscar Wendt’s ten year spell at Borussia came to an end. The Bundesliga match at Werder Bremen was the Swede’s 305th and final game for the Foals. The left-back made the move to Borussia in the summer of 2011 from FC Kopenhagen and played 244 times in the Bundesliga (16 goals), 37 times in Europe (1 goal) and 24 times in the DFB-Pokal (2 goals) for the Foals. “I’m very proud, of course, to have been a part of the history of this amazing club,” said Wendt.

Off the pitch

• Further players left the club alongside Oscar Wendt. Ibrahima Traoré, Valentino Lazaro, Max Grün and Julio Villalba moved on, as well as Marco Rose, Alexander Zickler, René Maric, Patrick Eibenberger and Steffen Krebs from the coaching staff.
• Eleven Borussia players were called up to their respective national team squds for EURO 2020: Yann Sommer, Nico Elvedi, Denis Zakaria, Breel Embolo (all for Switzerland), Matthias Ginter, Florian Neuhaus, Jonas Hofmann (all for Germany), Stefan Lainer, Valentino Lazaro (both for Austria), Marcus Thuram (France) and László Bénes (Slovakia). Andreas Poulsen was in the Danish squad for the European U21 Championships.
• Lars Stindl was voted Borussia Player of the Season by the fans.
• On the 24th June, Borussia’s former defender Ludwig “Luggi” Müller passed away at the age of 79. Müller made 94 appearances for the club between 1969 and 1972, winning the league in 1970 and 1971.
• Borussia’s women’s team lost out in the Bundesliga 2. relegation playoff against TSG Hoffenheim’s U20 side, going down to the Regionalliga.
• Borussia and Sonepar agree to extend their partnership, with the company continuing to appear on the sleeve of the team’s jersey.
• The “Alt Eicken”, Borussia’s former club restaurant in the Eicken district of Mönchengladbach closed its doors at the end of May. The building is due to be torn down.
• As Germany played Hungary in the group stages of the European Championships, the Foals displayed their commitment to diversity, tolerance and openness by hanging three large rainbow flags at the stadium.

In words: Oscar Wendt

“Everyone who knows me knows what these ten years have meant and will always mean to me. It was a wonderful time for me. I love Borussia, the surroundings, the fans and the boys I was out there on the pitch with every day. This club will always remain in my heart.”