# 2020–21 Fortuna Düsseldorf season

The 2020–21 Fortuna Düsseldorf season was Fortuna Düsseldorf's 126th edition in existence and the first season return in the second flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, Fortuna Düsseldorf contested in the DFB-Pokal. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

## Review and events

Fortuna Düsseldorf started the 2020–21 season on 12 September 2020 against FC Ingolstadt 04 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Fortuna Düsseldorf won the match 1–0 against FC Ingolstadt 04. However, they were knocked out of the DFB–Pokal in the following round against Rot-Weiss Essen.
The first 2. Bundesliga match was against Hamburger SV on 18 September 2020. Fortuna Düsseldorf lost the match 2–1. Fortuna Düsseldorf's first league win came on 20 September 2020 against Würzburger Kickers. Fortuna Düsseldorf won 1–0. They finished September in 11th place. In October, they went on a three–match winless streak before winning the final match of the month. They lost matchday 3 and 5 against Holstein Kiel and Hannover 96 they drew matchday four 2–2 against Jahn Regensburg, and won matchday six against 1. FC Heidenheim. Fortuna Düsseldorf finished October tied for 12th place with SV Sandhausen. on 30 November 2020, Fortuna Düsseldorf lost to VfL Bochum 5–0. Fortuna Düsseldorf finished November in 12th place. Fortuna Düsseldorf won all four league matches in December. Fortuna Düsseldorf defeated SV Darmstadt 98, Karlsruher SC, VfL Osnabrück, and FC St. Pauli. Fortuna Düsseldorf finished December in fifth place. Fortuna Düsseldorf started 2021 with a win against SC Paderborn 07. This was their fifth win in a row. Their five–match winning streak finished when they drew Eintracht Braunschweig 0–0. A victory against Erzgebirge Aue on 16 January 2021 (matchday 16) put Fortuna Düsseldorf in third place for a playoff for promotion to the 2021–22 Bundesliga season. However, a draw against Greuther Fürth on 22 January 2021 (matchday 17) dropped Fortuna Düsseldorf down to fourth place and a 0–0 draw against Hamburg on 26 February 2021 (matchday 18) dropped Fortuna Düsseldorf down to fifth place. Fortuna Düsseldorf finished January with a 2–1 loss to Würzburger Kickers on 29 January 2021. Fortuna Düsseldorf finished January in sixth place. This was Fortuna Düsseldorf's first loss since losing 5–0 to Bochum.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| 2. Bundesliga | 18 September 2020 | 23 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 5th | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 047.06 |
| DFB-Pokal | 12 September 2020 | 23 December 2020 | First round | Second round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 36 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 047.22 |
Source: Soccerway

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Holstein Kiel | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 57 | 35 | +22 | 62 | Qualification for promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Hamburger SV | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 71 | 44 | +27 | 58 | |
| 5 | Fortuna Düsseldorf | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 56 | |
| 6 | Karlsruher SC | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 51 | 44 | +7 | 52 | |
| 7 | Darmstadt 98 | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 63 | 55 | +8 | 51 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: kicker.de

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | W | L | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | L | L | D | W | L | | | |
| Position | 14 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | | | |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 7 August 2020.
2. Bundesliga match details :
| Match | Date | Time | Opponent | Venue | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance | Referee |
| 1 | 18 September 2020 | 18:30 | Hamburger SV | Away | 1–2 | Zimmermann 90+3' | 1,000 | Dingert |
| 2 | 26 September 2020 | 13:00 | Würzburger Kickers | Home | 1–0 | Kownacki 82' | 7,500 | Hartmann |
| 3 | 4 October 2020 | 13:30 | Holstein Kiel | Away | 1–2 | Meffert 59' o.g. | 1,973 | Ittrich |
| 4 | 18 October 2020 | 13:30 | Jahn Regensburg | Home | 2–2 | Karaman 81', Hennings 86' | 0 | Kampka |
| 5 | 24 October 2020 | 13:00 | Hannover 96 | Away | 0–3 | | 8,900 | Dankert |
| 6 | 30 October 2020 | 18:30 | 1. FC Heidenheim | Home | 1–0 | Sobottka 33' | 0 | Stegemann |
| 7 | 7 November 2020 | 13:00 | 1. FC Nürnberg | Away | 1–1 | Karaman 30' | 0 | Schröder |
| 8 | 21 November 2020 | 13:00 | SV Sandhausen | Home | 1–0 | Hennings 59' pen. | 0 | Schlager |
| 9 | 30 November 2020 | 20:30 | VfL Bochum | Away | 0–5 | | 0 | Willenborg |
| 10 | 4 December 2020 | 18:30 | Darmstadt 98 | Home | 3–2 | Hennings 56', Karaman 77', Kownacki 89' | 0 | Alt |
| 11 | 13 December 2020 | 13:30 | Karlsruher SC | Away | 2–1 | Krajnc 12', Peterson 57' | 0 | Reichel |
| 12 | 16 December 2020 | 18:30 | VfL Osnabrück | Home | 3–0 | Appelkamp 11', Hennings (2) 89', 90+2' | 0 | Lechner |
| 13 | 20 December 2020 | 13:30 | FC St. Pauli | Away | 3–0 | Zimmermann 10', Hennings 64', Prib 90+3' | 0 | Schröder |
| 14 | 4 January 2021 | 20:30 | SC Paderborn | Home | 2–1 | Peterson 22', Karaman 55' | 0 | Aarnink |
| 15 | 11 January 2021 | 20:30 | Eintracht Braunschweig | Away | 0–0 | | 0 | Sather |
| 16 | 16 January 2021 | 13:00 | Erzgebirge Aue | Away | 3–0 | Kownacki 24', Karaman 82', Pledl 89' | 0 | Günsch |
| 17 | 22 January 2021 | 18:30 | Greuther Fürth | Home | 3–3 | Karaman 35', Peterson 49', Danso 83' | 0 | Willenborg |
| 18 | 26 January 2021 | 20:30 | Hamburger SV | Home | 0–0 | | 0 | Cortus |
| 19 | 29 January 2021 | 18:30 | Würzburger Kickers | Away | 1–2 | Hennings 25' | 0 | Schmidt |
| 20 | 8 February 2021 | 20:30 | Holstein Kiel | Home | 0–2 | | 0 | Storks |
| 21 | 13 February 2021 | 13:00 | Jahn Regensburg | Away | 1–1 | Karaman 52' | 0 | Gerach |
| 22 | 21 February 2021 | 13:30 | Hannover 96 | Home | 3–2 | Hennings 28' pen., Klaus 52', Appelkamp 76' | 0 | Zwayer |
| 23 | 28 February 2021 | 13:30 | 1. FC Heidenheim | Away | 2–3 | Sobottka 63', Peterson 76' | 0 | Heft |
| 24 | 7 March 2021 | 13:30 | 1. FC Nürnberg | Home | 3–1 | Hoffmann 48', Sobottka 77', Sorg 90+5' o.g. | 0 | Petersen |
| 25 | 13 March 2021 | 13:00 | SV Sandhausen | Away | 0–0 | | 0 | Kampka |
| 26 | 22 March 2021 | 20:30 | VfL Bochum | Home | 0–3 | | 0 | Aytekin |
| 27 | 4 April 2021 | 13:30 | Darmstadt 98 | Away | 2–1 | Krajnc 20', Kownacki 62' | 0 | Reichel |
| 29 | 18 April 2021 | 13:30 | VfL Osnabrück | Away | 3–0 | Peterson 37', Kownacki 50' pen., Sobottka 67' | 0 | Jablonski |
| 30 | 21 April 2021 | 18:30 | FC St. Pauli | Home | 2–0 | Klaus 26', Danso 48' | 0 | Bacher |
| 31 | 24 April 2021 | 13:00 | SC Paderborn | Away | 1–2 | Hennings 64' | 0 | Aarnink |
| 28 | 3 May 2021 | 20:30 | Karlsruher SC | Home | 3–2 | Kownacki 35' pen., Borrello 73', Appelkamp 90+5' | 0 | Alt |
| 32 | 8 May 2021 | 13:00 | Eintracht Braunschweig | Home | 2–2 | Kownacki 42' pen., Appelkamp 60' | 0 | Reichel |
| 33 | 16 May 2021 | 15:30 | Erzgebirge Aue | Home | 3–0 | Appelkamp 10', Sobottka 18', Peterson 87' | 0 | Cortus |
| 34 | 23 May 2021 | 15:30 | Greuther Fürth | Away | 2–3 | Peterson 26', Appelkamp 56' | 0 | Osmers |

### DFB-Pokal

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result F–A | Goalscorers | Attendance | Ref. |
| 12 September 2020 | First round | FC Ingolstadt 04 | Away | 1–0 | Pledl | 0 | |
| 23 December 2020 | Second round | Rot-Weiss Essen | Away | 2–3 | Hennings (2) | 0 | |

## Player details
### First-team squad

    As of 9 October 2020
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Raphael Wolf |
| 3 | MF | GER | André Hoffmann |
| 4 | DF | AUT | Kevin Danso (on loan from Augsburg) |
| 5 | DF | AUT | Christoph Klarer |
| 6 | MF | USA | Alfredo Morales |
| 7 | DF | GER | Florian Hartherz |
| 8 | MF | POL | Jakub Piotrowski |
| 9 | FW | POL | Dawid Kownacki |
| 11 | FW | TUR | Kenan Karaman |
| 12 | MF | SWE | Kristoffer Peterson |
| 13 | MF | POL | Adam Bodzek (captain) |
| 14 | FW | GHA | Kelvin Ofori |
| 15 | MF | GER | Edgar Prib |
| 18 | MF | GER | Thomas Pledl |
| 19 | FW | GER | Emmanuel Iyoha |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | AUS | Brandon Borrello (on loan from SC Freiburg) |
| 21 | GK | GER | Dennis Gorka |
| 22 | DF | GRE | Leonardo Koutris (on loan from Olympiacos) |
| 23 | MF | JPN | Shinta Appelkamp |
| 25 | DF | GER | Matthias Zimmermann |
| 28 | FW | GER | Rouwen Hennings |
| 29 | MF | GER | Gökhan Gül |
| 30 | GK | RUS | Anton Mitryushkin |
| 31 | MF | GER | Marcel Sobottka |
| 32 | DF | SVN | Luka Krajnc (on loan from Frosinone) |
| 33 | GK | GER | Florian Kastenmeier |
| 36 | DF | GER | Nikell Touglo |
| 39 | DF | GER | Jean Zimmer |
| 43 | DF | GER | Jamil Siebert |

## Transfers
### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | GHA | Nana Ampomah (on loan to Royal Antwerp until 30 June 2022) |