2021–22 Karlsruher SC season

The 2021–22 season was Karlsruher SC's 70th season in existence and the club's third consecutive season in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. The club also participated in the DFB-Pokal.

Karlsruher SC

2021–22 season
President	Ingo Wellenreuther
Manager	Christian Eichner
Stadium	Wildparkstadion
2. Bundesliga	12th
DFB-Pokal	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Philipp Hofmann (3 goals) All: Philipp Hofmann (3 goals)
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

Background and pre-season

Main article: 2020–21 Karlsruher SC season

Karlsruher SC finished the 2020–21 season in 6th place, 10 points below the automatic promotion places and 12 points below the promotion play-off place.^[1]

Friendly matches

Pre-season match details

Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
26 June 2021	14:00	SGV Freiberg	Home	2–0	Choi 81' o.g., Hofmann 85'	500	[2][3]
30 June 2021	18:30	Bahlinger SC	Away	0–0	—	500	[4][5]
3 July 2021	14:00	Viktoria Köln	Neutral[a]	5–1	Wanitzek 56' pen., 72', 77', Kother 60', Hofmann 74'		[6][7]
7 July 2021	18:30	FC Kufstein	Neutral[b]	4–0	Kobald 11', Schleusener 19', Batmaz 65', Cueto 70'	200	[8][9]
11 July 2021	13:00	Türkgücü München	Neutral[c]	0–0	—	0	[10][11]
11 July 2021	16:30	Zenit St. Petersburg	Neutral[d]	1–3	Gondorf 52' pen.	300	[12][13]
17 July 2021	14:00	1. FC Saarbrücken	Home	1–0	Hofmann 62'	350	[14][15]
4 August 2021	15:30	TSG Hoffenheim	Away[e]	0–5	—		[16]
2 September 2021	13:00	Mainz 05	Away	0–0	—	500	[17]

1. Match played in Bad Wörishofen, Germany
2. Match played at Smaragd-Arena in Bramberg am Wildkogel, Austria
3. Match played in St. Ulrich am Pillersee
4. Match played in St. Johann in Tirol
5. Match played at Akademie-Arena, Kunstrasen

Competitions

2. Bundesliga

Main article: 2021–22 2. Bundesliga

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
10	Fortuna Düsseldorf	34	11	11	12	45	42	+3	44
11	Hannover 96	34	11	9	14	35	49	−14	42
12	Karlsruher SC	34	9	14	11	54	55	−1	41
13	Hansa Rostock	34	10	11	13	41	52	−11	41
14	SV Sandhausen	34	10	11	13	42	54	−12	41

Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Away goals scored; 8) Play-off.^[18]

Matches

2. Bundesliga match details

Match	Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	League position	Ref.
1	24 July 2021	13:30	Hansa Rostock	Away	3–1	Kobald 42', Hofmann 44', Jung 79'	14,500	3rd	[19]
2	30 July 2021	18:30	Darmstadt 98	Home	3–0	Hofmann 9', 79', Choi 76'	9,750	1st	[20]
3	14 August 2021	13:30	SV Sandhausen	Away	0–0	—	4,908	2nd	[21]
4	21 August 2021	13:30	Werder Bremen	Home	0–0	—	10,000	4th	[22]
5	27 August 2021	18:30	1. FC Nürnberg	Away	1–2	Batmaz 82'	13,120	6th	[23]
6	11 September 2021	13:30	Holstein Kiel	Home	2–2	Choi 39', Hofmann 88'	10,000	8th	[24]
7	17 September 2021	18:30	Schalke 04	Away	2–1	Choi 1', Wanikzek 88'	24,000	5th	[25]
8	25 September 2021	13:30	FC St. Pauli	Home	1–3	Schleusener 79'	12,500	9th	[26]
9	2 October 2021	13:30	Jahn Regensburg	Away	2–2	Wanikzek 14', Thiede 51'	8,790	10th	[27]
10	16 October 2021	13:30	Erzgebirge Aue	Home	2–1	Schleusener 46', Hofmann 67'	12,000	7th	[28]
11	23 October 2021	13:30	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Away	1–3	Wanitzek 22'	22,458	8th	[29]
12	31 October 2021	13:30	SC Paderborn	Home	2–4	Schleusener 68', Hofmann 70'	14,039	9th	[30]
13	6 November 2021	20:30	Hamburger SV	Home	1–1	Hofmann 18'	20,000	10th	[31]
14	21 November 2021	13:30	Ingolstadt 04	Away	1–1	Kother 42'	4,348	10th	[32]
15	27 November 2021	13:30	Hannover 96	Home	4–0	Choi 17', Gordon 27', Wanitzek 29', Hofmann 83'	10,000	9th	[33]
16	5 December 2021	13:30	Dynamo Dresden	Away	1–3	Schleusener 52'	0	10th	[34]
17	12 December 2021	13:30	1. FC Heidenheim	Home	3–2	Batmaz 8', 39', Wanitzek 56' pen.	750	10th	[35]
18	19 December 2021	13:30	Hansa Rostock	Home	2–2	Gordon 13', Hofmann 26'	750	10th	[36]
19	15 January 2022	20:30	Darmstadt 98	Away	2–2	Gjasula 22' o.g., Schleusener 71'	250	10th	[37]
21	5 February 2022	13:30	Werder Bremen	Away	1–2	Hofmann 59'	10,000	11th	[38]
20	8 February 2022	18:30	SV Sandhausen	Home	0–2		6,532	11th	[39]
22	12 February 2022	13:30	1. FC Nürnberg	Home	4–1	Hofmann 39', 59', Goller 55', Wanitzek 90' pen.	9,265	11th	[40]
23	19 February 2022	13:30	Holstein Kiel	Away	2–0	O'Shaughnessy 16', Schleusener 67'	7,953	9th	[41]
24	26 February 2022	13:30	Schalke 04	Home	1–1	Choi 34'	15,000	9th	[42]
25	5 March 2022	13:30	FC St. Pauli	Away	1–3	Hofmann 66'	22,158	9th	[43]
26	13 March 2022	13:30	Jahn Regensburg	Home	1–1	Hofmann 70'	13,258	9th	[44]
27	18 March 2022	18:30	Erzgebirge Aue	Away	3–0	Hofmann 54', Wanitzek 67', Lorenz 85'	6,619	9th	[45]
28	3 April 2022	13:30	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Home	2–2	Wanitzek 65' pen., Hofmann 83'	17,907	9th	[46]
29	10 April 2022	13:30	SC Paderborn	Away	2–2	Wanitzek 36', Hofmann 69'	9,652	9th	[47]
30	16 April 2022	20:30	Hamburger SV	Away	0–3		24,892	10th	[48]
31	22 April 2022	18:30	Ingolstadt 04	Home	2–2	Schleusener 69', Hofmann 75'	16,655	9th	[49]
32	29 April 2022	18:30	Hannover 96	Away	0–2		13,700	12th	[50]
33	8 May 2022	13:30	Dynamo Dresden	Home	2–2	Gondorf 65', Hofmann 74'	18,649	11th	[51]
34	15 May 2022	15:30	1. FC Heidenheim	Away	0–2		10,599	12th	[52]

DFB-Pokal

Main article: 2021–22 DFB-Pokal

DFB-Pokal match details

Round	Date	Time	Opponent	Venue	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref.
Second round	27 October 2021	18:30	Bayer Leverkusen	Away	2–1	Cueto 5', Choi 63'	13,060	[54]
Round of 16	18 January 2022	18:30	1860 Munich	Away	1–0	Wanikzek 69' pen.		[55]
Quarter-final	2 March 2022	18:30	Hamburger SV	Away	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Heise 40', Hofmann 50'	25,000	[56]

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Name	From[a]	Fee	Ref.
8 June 2021	MF	Lucas Cueto	Viktoria Köln	Undisclosed	[57]
8 June 2021	MF	Fabio Kaufmann	Eintracht Braunschweig	Undisclosed	[57]
11 June 2021	DF	Philip Heise	Norwich City	Free	[58]
25 June 2021	FW	Fabian Schleusener	1. FC Nürnberg	Undisclosed	[59]
1 July 2021	MF	Leon Jensen	(FSV Zwickau)	Free	[60]
20 July 2021	GK	Niklas Heeger	(VfB Stuttgart II)	Free	[61]

Loans in

Date	Position	Name	Club	Return	Ref.

Transfers out

Date	Position	Name	To[b]	Fee	Ref.
20 June 2021	MF	David Trivunic	FC Nöttingen	Undisclosed	[62]
30 June 2021	DF	David Pisot	(SpVgg Unterhaching)	Released	[63][64]
30 June 2021	DF	Alexander Groiß	(1. FC Saarbrücken)	Released	[63][65]
30 June 2021	FW	Babacar Gueye	Unattached	Released	[63]
5 July 2021	DF	Dirk Carlson	Erzgebirge Aue	Undisclosed	[66]

Loans out

Date	Position	Name	Club	Return	Ref.
7 July 2021	DF	Luca Bolay	1. FC Nürnberg II	End of season	[67]

Notes

1. Brackets denote that the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Karlsruher SC.
2. Brackets denote that the player joined that club after his Karlsruher SC contract expired