# 2020–21 2. Frauen-Bundesliga

The 2020–21 2. Frauen-Bundesliga was the 17th season of Germany's second-tier women's football league. The season began on 4 October 2020 and concluded on 6 June 2021. The champions of both divisions were promoted to the Frauen-Bundesliga, while the bottom three teams were relegated to the Frauen-Regionalliga.
This season initially consisted of 19 teams, as there was no relegation from the previous season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. USV Jena joined forces with FC Carl Zeiss Jena and competed under their name. In a conference with the clubs, two systems were put to a vote. The majority of the clubs decided on one option, which is to re-divide the league into Nord and Süd. To get back to the desired strength of 14 teams and a single-league, there were six relegated teams: the last three in the ten-team division and last two teams from the nine-team division. The last team was determined between the teams who finished seventh in each division. Before the season, BV Cloppenburg withdrew its women's team from the 2. Bundesliga after bankruptcy and was thus relegated, reducing the league to 18 teams. On 3 November 2020, the league was paused. In late February 2021, it was announced that the season would continue on 21 March.
The fixtures were announced on 4 August 2020.

## Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 31 August 2020, the DFB Executive Committee decided to allow for the use of five substitutions in matches during the 2020–21 season, which was implemented in other DFB competitions 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.

## Teams
### Team changes

| Entering league | Entering league | Exiting league | Exiting league |
| Promoted from 2019–20 Regionalliga | Relegated from 2019–20 Bundesliga | Promoted to 2020–21 Bundesliga | Relegated to 2020–21 Regionalliga |
| RB Leipzig 1. FFC 08 Niederkirchen Borussia Bocholt SpVg Berghofen Würzburger Kickers (previously SC Würzburg) | 1. FC Köln Carl Zeiss Jena (previously FF USV Jena) | Werder Bremen SV Meppen | None as the season was cancelled. |

## North
### Stadiums

| Team | Home city | Home ground | Capacity |
| SpVg Berghofen | Dortmund | Sportplatz im Schwerter Wald | |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Bielefeld | EDImedienArena | 2,500 |
| Borussia Bocholt | Bocholt | In der Hardt | 1,500 |
| BV Cloppenburg | Cloppenburg | PK Sportpark | 5,001 |
| FSV Gütersloh | Gütersloh | Tönnies-Arena | 4,252 |
| Carl Zeiss Jena | Jena | Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld | 10,800 |
| RB Leipzig | Leipzig | Sportanlage Gontardweg | 1,300 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | Mönchengladbach | Grenzlandstadion | 10,000 |
| Turbine Potsdam II | Potsdam | Sportforum Waldstadt | 5,000 |
| VfL Wolfsburg II | Wolfsburg | AOK Stadion | 5,200 |

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Carl Zeiss Jena (C, P) | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 11 | +18 | 35 | Promotion to Bundesliga |
| 2 | FSV Gütersloh | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 18 | +19 | 33 | |
| 3 | RB Leipzig | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 26 | |
| 4 | Borussia Bocholt | 16 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 25 | |
| 5 | VfL Wolfsburg II | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 22 | |
| 6 | Borussia Mönchengladbach (R) | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 24 | −2 | 21 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 7 | Turbine Potsdam II (R) | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 27 | 26 | +1 | 20 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 8 | Arminia Bielefeld (R) | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 11 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 9 | SpVg Berghofen (R) | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 38 | −30 | 8 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 10 | BV Cloppenburg (R) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrawn |
* 1 2 Reserve teams cannot compete in the Frauen-Bundesliga and are therefore ineligible for promotion.
* ↑ BV Cloppenburg withdrew its women's team after the club's bankruptcy.

### Results

| Home \ Away | BER | BIE | BOC | CLO | GÜT | JEN | LEI | MÖN | PO2 | WO2 |
| SpVg Berghofen | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–6 | 0–2 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | 4–0 | — | 1–3 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 |
| Borussia Bocholt | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | — | 1–5 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| BV Cloppenburg | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FSV Gütersloh | 3–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Carl Zeiss Jena | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| RB Leipzig | 3–1 | 3–5 | 5–1 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 4–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | — | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–4 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Turbine Potsdam II | 5–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–4 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 0–2 |
| VfL Wolfsburg II | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | — | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 5–0 | — |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Sarah Abu-Sabbah | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 11 |
| 2 | Annalena Rieke | FSV Gütersloh | 10 |
| 3 | Sarah Grünheid | Arminia Bielefeld | 9 |
| 4 | Vanessa Fudalla | RB Leipzig | 6 |
| 4 | Nelly Juckel | Carl Zeiss Jena | 6 |
| 6 | Romy Baraniak | VfL Wolfsburg II | 5 |
| 6 | Christina Edwards | Borussia Bocholt | 5 |
| 6 | Natasha Kowalski | VfL Wolfsburg II | 5 |
| 6 | Christin Meyer | Carl Zeiss Jena | 5 |
| 6 | Anja Mittag | RB Leipzig | 5 |
| 6 | Marlene Müller | RB Leipzig | 5 |
| 6 | Jolina Opladen | Borussia Bocholt | 5 |
| 6 | Karina Sævik | VfL Wolfsburg II | 5 |
| 6 | Rita Schumacher | VfL Wolfsburg II | 5 |

## South
### Stadiums

| Team | Home city | Home ground | Capacity |
| SG Andernach | Andernach | Stadionstraße | |
| Eintracht Frankfurt II | Frankfurt | Stadion am Brentanobad | 5,200 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim II | Sinsheim | Ensinger-Stadion | 4,000 |
| FC Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | ESV-Stadion | 11,481 |
| 1. FC Köln | Cologne | Südstadion | 11,748 |
| Bayern Munich II | Aschheim | Sportpark Aschheim | 3,000 |
| 1. FFC 08 Niederkirchen | Niederkirchen | Sportgelände Nachtweide | 2,000 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Saarbrücken | Kieselhumes | 12,000 |
| Würzburger Kickers | Würzburg | | |

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | 1. FC Köln (C, P) | 16 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 10 | +39 | 46 | Promotion to Bundesliga |
| 2 | Bayern Munich II | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 20 | +10 | 27 | |
| 3 | SG Andernach | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 34 | 27 | +7 | 27 | |
| 4 | FC Ingolstadt | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 24 | +6 | 26 | |
| 5 | Eintracht Frankfurt II | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 30 | 22 | +8 | 25 | |
| 6 | 1899 Hoffenheim II (O) | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 22 | +14 | 23 | Qualification for relegation play-offs |
| 7 | 1. FC Saarbrücken (R) | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 36 | −9 | 17 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 8 | Würzburger Kickers (R) | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 19 | 35 | −16 | 11 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 9 | 1. FFC 08 Niederkirchen (R) | 16 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 63 | −59 | 2 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
* 1 2 3 Reserve teams cannot compete in the Frauen-Bundesliga and are therefore ineligible for promotion.

### Results

| Home \ Away | AND | FR2 | HO2 | ING | KÖL | MU2 | NIE | SAA | WÜR |
| SG Andernach | — | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 6–0 | 3–1 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt II | 6–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 |
| 1899 Hoffenheim II | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 9–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| FC Ingolstadt | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 0–4 | 2–2 | 6–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 |
| 1. FC Köln | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 3–0 | 6–1 | 2–1 | 7–2 |
| Bayern Munich II | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | — | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| 1. FFC 08 Niederkirchen | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–5 | — | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 2–0 | — | 2–2 |
| Würzburger Kickers | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 0–3 | — |

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Vanessa Leimenstoll | 1899 Hoffenheim II | 14 |
| 2 | Mandy Islacker | 1. FC Köln | 12 |
| 2 | Ramona Maier | FC Ingolstadt | 12 |
| 4 | Amber Barrett | 1. FC Köln | 10 |
| 5 | Johanna Berg | Eintracht Frankfurt II | 9 |
| 6 | Sharon Beck | 1. FC Köln | 8 |
| 6 | Medina Dešić | Würzburger Kickers | 8 |
| 6 | Antonia Hornberg | SG Andernach | 8 |
| 9 | Nadine Anstatt | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 7 |
| 9 | Annika Wohner | Bayern Munich II | 7 |

## Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs took place on 30 May and 6 June 2021.

### Overview

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 1–3 | 1899 Hoffenheim II | 0–1 | 1–2 |

### Matches

1899 Hoffenheim II won 3–1 on aggregate.