# 2021–22 VfL Bochum season

The 2021–22 season was the 84th season in the existence of VfL Bochum and the club's first season back in the top flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, VfL Bochum participated in this season's edition of the DFB-Pokal.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 31 January 2022
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Manuel Riemann |
| 2 | DF | CRC | Cristian Gamboa |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Danilo Soares |
| 4 | DF | SRB | Erhan Mašović |
| 5 | DF | SUI | Saulo Decarli |
| 6 | MF | GER | Patrick Osterhage |
| 7 | FW | GER | Danny Blum |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Anthony Losilla (captain) |
| 9 | FW | GER | Simon Zoller |
| 10 | FW | JPN | Takuma Asano |
| 11 | DF | UGA | Herbert Bockhorn |
| 14 | FW | GER | Tom Weilandt |
| 16 | DF | GRE | Konstantinos Stafylidis (on loan from 1899 Hoffenheim) |
| 17 | FW | PHI | Gerrit Holtmann |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | NED | Jürgen Locadia |
| 20 | MF | GER | Elvis Rexhbeçaj (on loan from VfL Wolfsburg) |
| 21 | GK | GER | Michael Esser |
| 22 | FW | GHA | Christopher Antwi-Adjei |
| 23 | MF | GER | Robert Tesche |
| 24 | DF | GRE | Vasilis Lampropoulos |
| 27 | FW | SRB | Miloš Pantović |
| 28 | FW | GER | Luis Hartwig |
| 29 | DF | GER | Maxim Leitsch |
| 32 | FW | GER | Tarsis Bonga |
| 34 | GK | GER | Paul Grave |
| 37 | DF | GER | Armel Bella-Kotchap |
| 38 | MF | GER | Eduard Löwen (on loan from Hertha BSC) |
| 40 | FW | GER | Sebastian Polter |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | CGO | Silvère Ganvoula (at Cercle Brugge until 30 June 2022) |
| — | DF | GER | Moritz Römling (at Türkgücü München until 30 June 2022) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| 6 | MF | Patrick Osterhage | Borussia Dortmund II | Free | 1 July 2021 |
| 10 | FW | Takuma Asano | Partizan | Free | 1 July 2021 |
| 21 | GK | Michael Esser | Hannover 96 | Free | 1 July 2021 |
| 22 | MF | Christopher Antwi-Adjei | SC Paderborn | Free | 1 July 2021 |
| 38 | MF | Eduard Löwen | Hertha BSC | Loan | 1 July 2021 |
| 16 | DF | Konstantinos Stafylidis | 1899 Hoffenheim | Loan | 1 August 2021 |
| 20 | MF | Elvis Rexhbeçaj | VfL Wolfsburg | Loan | 2 August 2021 |
| 40 | FW | Sebastian Polter | Fortuna Sittard | Free | 13 August 2021 |
| 19 | FW | Jürgen Locadia | Brighton & Hove Albion | Free | 6 January 2022 |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| 10 | MF | Thomas Eisfeld | | Free | 1 July 2021 |
| 25 | GK | Patrick Drewes | SV Sandhausen | Free | 1 July 2021 |
| 32 | MF | Robert Žulj | Ittihad Kalba | €350,000 | 2 July 2021 |
| 26 | MF | Lars Holtkamp | Bonner SC | Free | 30 July 2021 |
| 30 | FW | Baris Ekincier | Waldhof Mannheim | Undisclosed | 31 August 2021 |
| 15 | FW | Soma Novothny | Anorthosis Famagusta | Undisclosed | 3 January 2022 |
| 35 | FW | Silvère Ganvoula | Cercle Brugge | Loan | 25 January 2022 |
| 13 | MF | Raman Chibsah | Apollon Smyrnis | Undisclosed | 31 January 2022 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overall record

| 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 % |
| Bundesliga | 14 August 2021 | 14 May 2022 | Matchday 1 | 13th | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 035.29 |
| DFB-Pokal | 7 August 2021 | 2 March 2022 | First round | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 46 | 58 | −12 | 036.84 |
Source: Soccerway

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 11 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 42 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 12 | VfL Wolfsburg | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 54 | −11 | 42 | |
| 13 | VfL Bochum | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 42 | |
| 14 | FC Augsburg | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 38 | |
| 15 | VfB Stuttgart | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 41 | 59 | −18 | 33 | |
* ↑ Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League group stage by winning the UEFA Europa League.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: DFB

#### 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 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | W | L | L | L | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | L | L | W | L | D | D | W | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | W | L |
| Position | 13 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 13 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 25 June 2021.

### DFB-Pokal
## Statistics

As of 14 May 2022
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | GER | Manuel Riemann | 35 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | CRC | Cristian Gamboa | 27 | 1 | 20+3 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Danilo Soares | 34 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | SRB | Erhan Mašović | 22 | 0 | 17+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SUI | Saulo Decarli | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | GER | Patrick Osterhage | 15 | 0 | 6+7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | GER | Danny Blum | 14 | 2 | 2+11 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Anthony Losilla (captain) | 37 | 2 | 33 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | GER | Simon Zoller | 11 | 4 | 6+4 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | JPN | Takuma Asano | 31 | 3 | 20+7 | 3 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | UGA | Herbert Bockhorn | 18 | 0 | 7+11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | GER | Tom Weilandt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | GRE | Konstantinos Stafylidis | 26 | 0 | 15+9 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | PHI | Gerrit Holtmann | 34 | 5 | 24+6 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | NED | Jürgen Locadia | 13 | 2 | 4+7 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | GER | Elvis Rexhbeçaj | 36 | 0 | 30+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | GER | Michael Esser | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | GHA | Christopher Antwi-Adjei | 28 | 1 | 11+14 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | GER | Robert Tesche | 12 | 1 | 5+6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | DF | GRE | Vasilis Lampropoulos | 15 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | SRB | Miloš Pantović | 32 | 8 | 18+10 | 4 | 2+2 | 4 |
| 28 | FW | GER | Luis Hartwig | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | GER | Maxim Leitsch | 22 | 1 | 17+2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | GER | Tarsis Bonga | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | GK | GER | Paul Grave | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | CGO | Silvère Ganvoula | 10 | 0 | 0+9 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 37 | DF | GER | Armel Bella-Kotchap | 26 | 0 | 20+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | GER | Eduard Löwen | 28 | 3 | 15+11 | 2 | 0+2 | 1 |
| 40 | FW | GER | Sebastian Polter | 36 | 11 | 27+6 | 10 | 1+2 | 1 |
| | MF | GHA | Raman Chibsah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | AZE | Baris Ekincier | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | HUN | Soma Novothny | 6 | 1 | 0+6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

As of 14 May 2022
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | Total |
| 1 | 40 | FW | | Sebastian Polter | 10 | 1 | 11 |
| 2 | 27 | FW | | Miloš Pantović | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | 17 | FW | | Gerrit Holtmann | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | 9 | FW | | Simon Zoller | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | 10 | FW | | Takuma Asano | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | 38 | MF | | Eduard Löwen | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | 7 | FW | | Danny Blum | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 8 | MF | | Anthony Losilla | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 19 | FW | | Jürgen Locadia | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 2 | DF | | Cristian Gamboa | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 15 | FW | | Soma Novothny | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 22 | FW | | Christopher Antwi-Adjei | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 23 | MF | | Robert Tesche | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | 29 | DF | | Maxim Leitsch | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 38 | 8 | 46 |