2015–16 2. Bundesliga

The 2015–16 2. Bundesliga was the 42nd season of the 2. Bundesliga.

2. Bundesliga

Season	2015–16
Champions	SC Freiburg
Promoted	SC Freiburg RB Leipzig
Relegated	MSV Duisburg (via play-off) FSV Frankfurt SC Paderborn
Matches played	306
Goals scored	808 (2.64 per match)
Top goalscorer	Simon Terodde (25 goals)
Biggest home win	Eintracht Braunschweig 6−0 Karlsruher SC
Biggest away win	SC Paderborn 0−6 SV Sandhausen
Highest scoring	SC Freiburg 6−3 1. FC Nürnberg
Longest winning run	8 games[1] SC Freiburg
Longest unbeaten run	18 games[1] 1. FC Nürnberg
Longest winless run	13 games[1] SC Paderborn
Longest losing run	6 games[1] FSV Frankfurt
Highest attendance	54,100[1] 1860 Munich v SC Paderborn
Lowest attendance	4,084[1] Frankfurt v Sandhausen
Average attendance	19,176[1]
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Teams

1860 Munich

Bielefeld

Bochum

Braunschweig

Duisburg

Düsseldorf

FSV Frankfurt

Freiburg

Heidenheim

Karlsruhe

Kaiserslautern

Leipzig

Sandhausen

Fürth

St. Pauli

Berlin

Paderborn

Nürnberg

Locations of the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga teams

A total of 18 teams participated in the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga. These include 14 teams from the 2014–15 2. Bundesliga, together with SC Freiburg and SC Paderborn, who directly relegated from the 2014–15 Bundesliga, and Arminia Bielefeld and MSV Duisburg, who directly promoted from the 2014–15 3. Liga. The 16th-placed 2014–15 2. Bundesliga team, 1860 Munich, defeated the third-place finisher in the 2014–15 3. Liga, Holstein Kiel, in a two-legged play-off and avoided relegation.

Stadiums and locations

Team
Arminia Bielefeld
VfL Bochum
Eintracht Braunschweig
MSV Duisburg
Fortuna Düsseldorf
FSV Frankfurt
SpVgg Greuther Fürth
SC Freiburg
1. FC Heidenheim
1. FC Kaiserslautern
Karlsruher SC
RB Leipzig
1860 Munich
1. FC Nürnberg
SC Paderborn 07
SV Sandhausen
FC St. Pauli
1. FC Union Berlin

Notes

1. The capacity is reduced to 42,959 spectators during the 2015-16 season, due to a redevelopment of various stadium areas. The redevelopment includes an expansion of the VIP area, the press box and the wheelchair spaces.^[2][3]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Arminia Bielefeld	Norbert Meier	Fabian Klos	Saller	Alpecin
VfL Bochum	Gertjan Verbeek	Patrick Fabian	Nike	Booster Energy Drink (H) / Netto (A)
MSV Duisburg	Iliya Gruev	Branimir Bajić	Uhlsport	Black Crevice
Eintracht Braunschweig	Torsten Lieberknecht	Marcel Correia	Nike	SEAT
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Friedhelm Funkel	Adam Bodzek	Puma	o.tel.o
SC Freiburg	Christian Streich	Mensur Mujdža	Nike	Ehrmann
FSV Frankfurt	Falko Götz	Manuel Konrad	Saller	Ayondo
SpVgg Greuther Fürth	Stefan Ruthenbeck	Marco Caligiuri	Hummel	Ergo Direkt Versicherungen
1. FC Heidenheim	Frank Schmidt	Marc Schnatterer	Nike	Hartmann Gruppe
1. FC Kaiserslautern	Konrad Fünfstück	Chris Löwe	Uhlsport	Maxda
Karlsruher SC	Markus Kauczinski	Dirk Orlishausen	Jako	Klaiber Markisen
RB Leipzig	Ralf Rangnick	Dominik Kaiser	Nike	Red Bull
1860 Munich	Denis Bushuev	Christopher Schindler	Macron	Think Blue
1. FC Nürnberg	René Weiler	Even Hovland	Adidas	Wolf Möbel
SC Paderborn 07	René Müller	Uwe Hünemeier	Saller	kfzteile24
SV Sandhausen	Alois Schwartz	Stefan Kulovits	Puma	Verivox
FC St. Pauli	Ewald Lienen	Sören Gonther	Hummel	Congstar
1. FC Union Berlin	André Hofschneider	Damir Kreilach	Macron	kfzteile24

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
RB Leipzig	Achim Beierlorzer	End of caretaker stint	11 May 2015	Preseason	Ralf Rangnick	29 May 2015[4]
Greuther Fürth	Mike Büskens	Stepped down	28 May 2015[5]		Stefan Ruthenbeck	12 June 2015[6]
SC Paderborn	André Breitenreiter	Left	12 June 2015[7]		Markus Gellhaus	13 June 2015[8]
Union Berlin	Norbert Düwel	Sacked	31 August 2015[9]	14th	Sascha Lewandowski	1 September 2015[10]
1. FC Kaiserslautern	Kosta Runjaić	Resigned	23 September 2015[11]	12th	Konrad Fünfstück	23 September 2015[11]
1860 Munich	Torsten Fröhling	Sacked	6 October 2015[12]	17th	Benno Möhlmann	6 October 2015[12]
SC Paderborn	Markus Gellhaus	Sacked	6 October 2015[12]	15th	Stefan Effenberg	13 October 2015[13]
MSV Duisburg	Gino Lettieri	Sacked	2 November 2015[14]	18th	Iliya Gruev	3 November 2015[15]
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Frank Kramer	Sacked	23 November 2015[16]	17th	Peter Hermann (interim)	23 November 2015[16]
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Peter Hermann (interim)	Replaced	23 December 2015[17]	15th	Marco Kurz	23 December 2015[17]
SC Paderborn	Stefan Effenberg	Sacked	3 March 2016[18]	17th	René Müller	3 March 2016[18]
Union Berlin	Sascha Lewandowski	Stepped down	4 March 2016[19]	11th	André Hofschneider	4 March 2016[20]
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Marco Kurz	Sacked	13 March 2016[21]	16th	Friedhelm Funkel	14 March 2016[22]
FSV Frankfurt	Tomas Oral	Sacked	10 April 2016[23]	14th	Falko Götz	11 April 2016[24]
1860 Munich	Benno Möhlmann	Sacked	19 April 2016[25]	17th	Daniel Bierofka	19 April 2016[25]
1860 Munich	Daniel Bierofka	Permit expired	9 May 2016[26]	14th	Denis Bushuev	19 April 2016[26]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	SC Freiburg (C, P)	34	22	6	6	75	39	+36	72	Promotion to Bundesliga
2	RB Leipzig (P)	34	20	7	7	54	32	+22	67
3	1. FC Nürnberg	34	19	8	7	68	41	+27	65	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	FC St. Pauli	34	15	8	11	45	39	+6	53
5	VfL Bochum	34	13	12	9	56	40	+16	51
6	Union Berlin	34	13	10	11	56	50	+6	49
7	Karlsruher SC	34	12	11	11	35	37	−2	47
8	Eintracht Braunschweig	34	12	10	12	44	38	+6	46
9	SpVgg Greuther Fürth	34	13	7	14	49	55	−6	46
10	1. FC Kaiserslautern	34	12	9	13	49	47	+2	45
11	1. FC Heidenheim	34	11	12	11	42	40	+2	45
12	Arminia Bielefeld	34	8	18	8	38	39	−1	42
13	SV Sandhausen[a]	34	12	7	15	40	50	−10	40
14	Fortuna Düsseldorf	34	9	8	17	32	47	−15	35
15	1860 Munich	34	8	10	16	32	46	−14	34
16	MSV Duisburg (R)	34	7	11	16	32	54	−22	32	Qualification to relegation play-offs
17	FSV Frankfurt (R)	34	8	8	18	33	59	−26	32	Relegation to 3. Liga
18	SC Paderborn (R)	34	6	10	18	28	55	−27	28

Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. SV Sandhausen were deducted three points for license violation.^[27]

Results

Home \ Away	UNB	DSC	BOC	EBS	DUI	F95	FSV	SCF	SGF	FCH	FCK	KSC	RBL	M60	FCN	SCP	SVS	STP
Union Berlin	—	1–1	1–0	3–1	3–2	1–1	4–0	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2	2–1	1–1	3–0	3–3	0–2	1–0	3–3
Arminia Bielefeld	2–0	—	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–0	0–0	1–4	4–2	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–0	0–0
VfL Bochum	1–1	2–2	—	2–3	3–0	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	4–0	3–2	1–1
Eintracht Braunschweig	2–1	1–0	1–0	—	1–1	0–2	0–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	1–1	6–0	0–2	0–0	3–1	2–1	1–3	0–0
MSV Duisburg	2–1	2–2	0–0	0–5	—	2–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	1–3	0–1	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	3–0	0–2
Fortuna Düsseldorf	0–3	1–0	1–3	1–0	1–1	—	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	4–3	0–1	1–3	3–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–1
FSV Frankfurt	3–2	1–2	3–2	0–3	3–3	1–2	—	1–3	1–2	0–4	1–4	1–2	0–1	2–1	0–3	0–2	0–1	1–0
SC Freiburg	3–0	2–2	1–3	2–2	3–0	1–2	2–0	—	5–2	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	6–3	4–1	4–1	4–3
Greuther Fürth	2–0	0–0	0–5	3–0	1–1	3–1	0–2	2–3	—	0–2	2–4	1–0	1–2	1–0	3–2	3–0	3–1	0–2
1. FC Heidenheim	0–2	3–2	2–4	2–2	1–0	1–0	2–2	1–2	1–2	—	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	2–0
1. FC Kaiserslautern	2–2	0–2	0–2	0–0	2–0	3–0	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–2	—	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–3	1–0	2–0	1–2
Karlsruher SC	0–3	1–1	3–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	—	0–1	3–1	2–1	0–0	3–0	1–2
RB Leipzig	3–0	1–1	3–1	2–0	4–2	2–1	3–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	0–2	2–0	—	2–1	3–2	2–0	0–1	0–1
1860 Munich	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	3–2	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	1–1	0–1	2–2	—	0–1	1–0	3–2	2–0
1. FC Nürnberg	6–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	3–2	2–1	0–0	3–1	2–2	—	2–1	2–0	1–0
SC Paderborn	0–4	1–2	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–4	2–0	0–1	4–4	0–1	—	0–6	0–0
SV Sandhausen	4–3	1–4	1–1	0–2	2–2	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	—	0–2
FC St. Pauli	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	4–0	1–3	1–0	3–2	1–0	5–2	1–2	1–0	0–2	0–4	3–4	1–3	—

Source: DFB
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion play-offs

The team which finished 16th faced the third-placed 2015–16 2. Bundesliga side for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn entry into the 2016–17 Bundesliga.

First leg

19 May 2016 (2016-05-19)

20:30 CEST

Eintracht Frankfurt	1–1	1. FC Nürnberg
Gaćinović 65'	Report	Russ 42' (o.g.)

Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt

Attendance: 51,500

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Berlin)

Eintracht Frankfurt

1. FC Nürnberg

GK 1 Lukáš Hrádecký RB 22 Timothy Chandler CB 19 David Abraham CB 4 Marco Russ (c)  56' LB 6 Bastian Oczipka CM 20 Makoto Hasebe CM 8 Szabolcs Huszti RW 16 Stefan Aigner  61' AM 14 Alexander Meier  70' LW 11 Mijat Gaćinović  84' CF 9 Haris Seferovic Substitutes: GK 13 Heinz Lindner DF 2 Yanni Regäsel DF 5 Carlos Zambrano MF 21 Marc Stendera  70' MF 27 Aleksandar Ignjovski MF 32 Änis Ben-Hatira  61' FW 30 Luc Castaignos  84' Manager: Niko Kovač

GK 1 Raphael Schäfer  57' RB 2 Mišo Brečko (c) CB 33 Georg Margreitter CB 4 Dave Bulthuis LB 6 László Sepsi RM 17 Sebastian Kerk  74' CM 31 Ondřej Petrák CM 18 Hanno Behrens LM 23 Tim Leibold  89' CF 24 Niclas Füllkrug  85' CF 9 Guido Burgstaller Substitutes: GK 22 Patrick Rakovsky DF 3 Even Hovland  85' DF 28 Lukas Mühl MF 14 Kevin Möhwald MF 19 Rúrik Gíslason  89' FW 7 Danny Blum  74' FW 36 Cedric Teuchert Manager: René Weiler

Assistant referees: Florian Heft (Neuenkirchen) Jan Seidel (Oberkrämer) Fourth official: Bibiana Steinhaus (Hanover)

Match rules: 90 minutes. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Second leg

23 May 2016 (2016-05-23)

20:30 CEST

1. FC Nürnberg	0–1	Eintracht Frankfurt
	Report	Seferovic 66'

Grundig Stadion, Nuremberg

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Christian Dingert (Lebecksmühle)

1. FC Nürnberg

Eintracht Frankfurt

GK 1 Raphael Schäfer RB 2 Mišo Brečko (c)  72' CB 33 Georg Margreitter CB 4 Dave Bulthuis LB 6 László Sepsi  84' RM 17 Sebastian Kerk  56'  74' CM 31 Ondřej Petrák  74' CM 18 Hanno Behrens LM 23 Tim Leibold CF 9 Guido Burgstaller  90+2' CF 24 Niclas Füllkrug Substitutes: GK 22 Patrick Rakovsky DF 3 Even Hovland  84' DF 28 Lukas Mühl MF 14 Kevin Möhwald MF 19 Rúrik Gíslason  74' FW 7 Danny Blum  74' FW 36 Cedric Teuchert Manager: René Weiler

GK 1 Lukáš Hrádecký  90+1' RB 22 Timothy Chandler  69' CB 5 Carlos Zambrano (c) CB 19 David Abraham  90+4' LB 6 Bastian Oczipka  24' CM 20 Makoto Hasebe CM 8 Szabolcs Huszti RW 32 Änis Ben-Hatira  58' AM 21 Marc Stendera  11' LW 11 Mijat Gaćinović CF 9 Haris Seferovic  76' Substitutes: GK 13 Heinz Lindner DF 2 Yanni Regäsel MF 10 Marco Fabián  51'  11' MF 16 Stefan Aigner MF 27 Aleksandar Ignjovski  69' FW 14 Alexander Meier  58' FW 30 Luc Castaignos Manager: Niko Kovač

Assistant referees: Tobias Christ (Münchweiler an der Rodalb) Arne Aarnink (Nordhorn) Fourth official: Bastian Dankert (Rostock)

Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied on aggregate and away goals. Penalty shoot-out if no further goals are scored. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Eintracht Frankfurt won 2–1 on aggregate.

Relegation play-offs

The team which finished sixteenth faced the third-placed 2015–16 3. Liga side for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2016–17 2. Bundesliga.

First leg

20 May 2016 (2016-05-20)

19:10 CEST

Würzburger Kickers	2–0	MSV Duisburg
Weil 10' (pen.) Nagy 79'	Report

flyeralarm Arena, Würzburg

Attendance: 9,806

Referee: Sascha Stegemann (Niederkassel)

Würzburger Kickers

MSV Duisburg

GK 28 Robert Wulnikowski (c) RB 22 Dennis Russ  74' CB 11 Richard Weil CB 5 Clemens Schoppenhauer LB 16 Peter Kurzweg CM 30 Emanuel Taffertshofer CM 26 Royal-Dominique Fennell RW 10 Nejmeddin Daghfous AM 4 Rico Benatelli LW 14 Joannis Karsanidis  57' CF 33 Elia Soriano  70' Substitutes: GK 1 Dominik Brunnhübner DF 32 Lukas Billick MF 2 Dennis Schmitt MF 7 Marco Haller  57' MF 9 Amir Shapourzadeh  74' MF 20 Dániel Nagy  76'  70' FW 27 Adam Jabiri Manager: Bernd Hollerbach

GK 30 Marcel Lenz RB 28 Steffen Bohl CB 25 Thomas Meißner CB 5 Branimir Bajić (c)  8' LB 27 Dan-Patrick Poggenberg RM 36 Giorgi Chanturia  75' CM 23 James Holland CM 3 Enis Hajri LM 17 Kevin Wolze  86' CF 10 Kingsley Onuegbu  9'  53' CF 11 Stanislav Iljutcenko Substitutes: GK 39 Timothy Dieng DF 21 Rolf Feltscher MF 13 Zlatko Janjić MF 14 Tim Albutat MF 19 Nico Klotz  75' FW 8 Thomas Bröker  86' FW 33 Kevin Scheidhauer  53' Manager: Iliya Gruev

Assistant referees: Christian Fischer (Hemer) Sören Storks (Ramsdorf) Fourth official: Robert Schröder (Hanover)

Match rules: 90 minutes. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Second leg

24 May 2016 (2016-05-24)

19:10 CEST

MSV Duisburg	1–2	Würzburger Kickers
Schoppenhauer 33' (o.g.)	Report	Soriano 37' Benatelli 90+2'

Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg

Attendance: 29,500

Referee: Tobias Stieler (Hamburg)

MSV Duisburg

Würzburger Kickers

GK 30 Marcel Lenz CB 25 Thomas Meißner CB 23 James Holland CB 3 Enis Hajri RM 21 Rolf Feltscher CM 36 Giorgi Chanturia  56' CM 14 Tim Albutat  73' CM 17 Kevin Wolze  67'  71' LM 27 Dan-Patrick Poggenberg CF 15 Victor Obinna  89' CF 10 Kingsley Onuegbu (c) Substitutes: GK 39 Timothy Dieng DF 28 Steffen Bohl MF 13 Zlatko Janjić MF 19 Nico Klotz  56' MF 38 Barış Özbek FW 8 Thomas Bröker  71' FW 11 Stanislav Iljutcenko  73' Manager: Iliya Gruev

GK 28 Robert Wulnikowski (c) RB 11 Richard Weil CB 5 Clemens Schoppenhauer CB 26 Royal-Dominique Fennell  64' LB 16 Peter Kurzweg  22'  72' CM 30 Emanuel Taffertshofer CM 4 Rico Benatelli RW 22 Dennis Russ AM 14 Joannis Karsanidis  81'  83' LW 7 Marco Haller CF 33 Elia Soriano  88' Substitutes: GK 1 Dominik Brunnhübner DF 3 Dominik Nothnagel  72' DF 6 Niklas Weißenberger DF 32 Lukas Billick  83' MF 9 Amir Shapourzadeh MF 18 Nico Gutjahr FW 27 Adam Jabiri  88' Manager: Bernd Hollerbach

Assistant referees: Sascha Thielert (Buchholz in der Nordheide) Harm Osmers (Hanover) Fourth official: Frank Willenborg (Osnabrück)

Match rules: 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied on aggregate and away goals. Penalty shoot-out if no further goals are scored. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Würzburger Kickers won 4–1 on aggregate.

Player statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[28]
1	Simon Terodde	VfL Bochum	25
2	Nils Petersen	SC Freiburg	21
3	Bobby Wood	Union Berlin	17
5	Niclas Füllkrug	Nürnberg	14
	Vincenzo Grifo	SC Freiburg
7	Guido Burgstaller	Nürnberg	13
8	Sebastian Freis	Greuther Fürth	12
	Fabian Klos	Arminia Bielefeld
	Damir Kreilach	Union Berlin
11	Kerem Demirbay	Fortuna Düsseldorf	10
	Robert Leipertz	1. FC Heidenheim
	Davie Selke	RB Leipzig

Hat-tricks

Player	Club	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Nils Petersen	SC Freiburg	1. FC Nürnberg	6−3	27 July 2015	[29]
Lennart Thy4	FC St. Pauli	Fortuna Düsseldorf	4−0	9 November 2015	[30]
Nils Petersen	SC Freiburg	SC Paderborn	4−1	22 November 2015	[31]
Rubin Okotie	1860 Munich	SC Paderborn	4−4	28 November 2015	[32]
Niclas Füllkrug	1. FC Nürnberg	Union Berlin	6−2	23 April 2016	[33]
Simon Terodde	VfL Bochum	1. FC Heidenheim	4−2	15 May 2016	[34]

⁴Player scored four goals