2019–20 Bundesliga

It began on 16 August 2019 and concluded on 27 June 2020. Bayern Munich were the defending champions, and won their record-extending 8th consecutive title and 30th title overall (29th in the Bundesliga era) on 16 June with two games to spare. With 100 goals scored in 34 matches, Bayern became the second side to reach this milestone in a Bundesliga season, after the record 101 goals the club previously managed to score in 1971–72.

The number of substitutes allowed on the bench was increased from seven to nine for the 2019–20 season.

On 13 March 2020, the DFL suspended the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After consultation with the German government, the league resumed behind closed doors on 16 May 2020. Due to the postponement, the final matchday on 27 June was the second latest date any Bundesliga season has concluded, after the 1971–72 season (which concluded a day later).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, on 8 March 2020 the Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn recommended cancelling events with more than 1,000 people. The following day, the DFL announced that the Bundesliga season would be completed to ensure planning for the following season, and that any postponements would be to matchdays en bloc. On 10 March, it was announced that the catch-up match between Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Köln on 11 March would be played behind closed doors, the first such occurrence in league history. All fixtures on matchday 26 (13–16 March) were planned to be played without spectators due to local restrictions on public gatherings, but the round was subsequently postponed on 13 March due to safety issues. On 16 March, the DFL General Assembly suspended the league until at least 2 April, and scheduled another meeting for the last week of March to discuss how the competition should proceed. The DFL General Assembly, at their meeting on 31 March, chose to extend the suspension until at least 30 April per the recommendation of the Executive Committee. At the meeting, the DFL established a sports medicine and special match operations task force responsible for examining a safe method to resume league play.

On 13 March 2020, Luca Kilian of SC Paderborn was the first Bundesliga player to test positive for COVID-19. By 21 March 2020, several clubs, including Eintracht Frankfurt and Hertha BSC, were under quarantine after multiple players and staff had tested positive, and training was made impossible for most others by curfews or the closure of facilities. The DFL looked into possible scenarios to finish the season regularly. However, several virologists raised doubts, stating that any professional football matches in Germany, including those behind closed doors, were unrealistic for at least the next 12 months. In his report for the 31 March DFL meeting, virologist Alexander Kekulé recommended to write off the current season. On 4 April 2020, he clarified that matches behind closed doors were possible in principle, but would require extensive measures, including a total of about 20,000 tests for COVID-19 for the players and staff (testing every player before the start of each game), and an extended quarantine for everyone involved. Kekulé was doubtful though that those measures could be justified at a time when tests for the general population were in short supply.

On 3 April 2020, the DFL reported that the financial situation of most teams was more serious than thought. Of the 36 professional football clubs in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, 13 would have to declare bankruptcy by May or June unless league operations resumed by then, including four teams from the Bundesliga. Twelve of those clubs had already used the outstanding license fees (which are dependent on the season to be continued) to pay their March debts to creditors. At their 31 March meeting, the DFL had decided that clubs that enter insolvency proceedings this season would not suffer the usual deduction of points, and clubs that enter proceedings next season only lose three instead of the usual nine points.

By 23 April 2020, the DFL had targeted 9 May as a possible resumption date for the Bundesliga. However, this goal suffered a setback when 1. FC Köln announced on 1 May that three people at the club tested positive, without showing any symptoms. This was done as part of a wave of 1,724 tests carried out involving personnel of the 36 Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs, in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which resulted in seven further positive results in addition to those of Köln. After consultation with the German government, chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of the states of Germany approved the resumption of the leagues for the second half of May, with matches behind closed doors. The following day, the DFL confirmed that the Bundesliga would resume on 16 May, a Saturday, with matchday 26. The final matchday of the season (round 34), originally scheduled for 16 May, took place on 27 June, making it the second latest date any Bundesliga season has concluded. Only the 1971–72 season finished later (due to UEFA Euro 1972), concluding on 28 June.

The relegation play-offs between Werder Bremen, the 16th-placed team of the Bundesliga, and the 3rd-placed team of the 2. Bundesliga take place as planned. Per the competition regulations, clubs in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga were required to compete in all matches following the restart, even if some players test positive, provided the team has enough healthy players available. On 14 May, after a meeting of all clubs, five substitutions were permitted, which has been temporarily allowed by IFAB following a proposal by FIFA to lessen the impact of fixture congestion. The broadcaster Sky Sport announced that for the first two weeks after the restart, the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga simulcast ("conference") would be shown on free-to-air television in Germany, in order to prevent gatherings of people without pay TV subscriptions.

 

 

FC Augsburg

 

Hertha BSC

 

Union Berlin

 

Werder Bremen

 

Borussia Dortmund

 

Fortuna Düsseldorf

 

Eintracht Frankfurt

 

SC Freiburg

 

1899 Hoffenheim

 

1. FC Köln

 

RB Leipzig

 

Bayer Leverkusen

 

Mainz 05

 

Gladbach

 

Bayern Munich

 

SC Paderborn

 

Schalke 04

 

VfL Wolfsburg

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Locations of the 2019–20 Bundesliga teams

A total of 18 teams participated in the 2019–20 edition of the Bundesliga.

Team changes

Following a victory against VfB Stuttgart on away goals in the relegation/promotion play-offs, Union Berlin were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history, becoming the 56th club to feature in the Bundesliga, and the first from the former East Berlin.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
				Front	Sleeve
FC Augsburg	Heiko Herrlich	Daniel Baier	Nike	WWK	Siegmund
Hertha BSC	Bruno Labbadia	Vedad Ibišević	Nike	TEDi	Hyundai Motor Company
Union Berlin	Urs Fischer	Christopher Trimmel	Macron	Aroundtown	ONE Versicherung AG
Werder Bremen	Florian Kohfeldt	Niklas Moisander	Umbro	Wiesenhof	Tou Tou
Borussia Dortmund	Lucien Favre	Marco Reus	Puma	Evonik	Opel
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Uwe Rösler	Oliver Fink	Uhlsport	Henkel	Toyo Tires
Eintracht Frankfurt	Adi Hütter	David Abraham	Nike	Indeed.com	Deutsche Börse Group
SC Freiburg	Christian Streich	Mike Frantz	Hummel	Schwarzwaldmilch	Badenova
1899 Hoffenheim	Matthias Kaltenbach [de] /   Marcel Rapp /   Kai Herdling	Benjamin Hübner	Joma	SAP	SNP
1. FC Köln	Markus Gisdol	Jonas Hector	Uhlsport	REWE	DEVK
RB Leipzig	Julian Nagelsmann	Willi Orban	Nike	Red Bull	CG Immobilien
Bayer Leverkusen	Peter Bosz	Lars Bender	Jako	Barmenia Versicherungen	Kieser Training
Mainz 05	Achim Beierlorzer	Danny Latza	Lotto	Kömmerling	QQ288
Borussia Mönchengladbach	Marco Rose	Lars Stindl	Puma	Postbank	H-Hotels
Bayern Munich	Hansi Flick	Manuel Neuer	Adidas	Deutsche Telekom	Qatar Airways
SC Paderborn	Steffen Baumgart	Christian Strohdiek	Saller	Sunmaker	Effect Energy Drink
Schalke 04	David Wagner	Omar Mascarell	Umbro	Gazprom	DHL
VfL Wolfsburg	Oliver Glasner	Josuha Guilavogui	Nike	Volkswagen	Linglong Tire

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing	Manner	Exit date		Position in table	Incoming	Incoming date		Ref.
			Announced on	Departed on			Announced on	Arrived on
1899 Hoffenheim	Julian Nagelsmann	Signed for RB Leipzig	21 June 2018	30 June 2019	Pre-season	Alfred Schreuder	19 March 2019	1 July 2019
RB Leipzig	Ralf Rangnick	Appointed as sporting director	9 July 2018			Julian Nagelsmann	21 June 2018
VfL Wolfsburg	Bruno Labbadia	End of contract	12 March 2019			Oliver Glasner	23 April 2019
Schalke 04	Huub Stevens	End of caretaker spell	14 March 2019			David Wagner	9 May 2019
Borussia Mönchengladbach	Dieter Hecking	Sacked	2 April 2019			Marco Rose	10 April 2019
Hertha BSC	Pál Dárdai	Mutual consent	16 April 2019			Ante Čović	12 May 2019
1. FC Köln	André Pawlak /   Manfred Schmid (interim)	End of caretaker spell	27 April 2019			Achim Beierlorzer	13 May 2019
Bayern Munich	Niko Kovač	Mutual consent	3 November 2019		4th	Hansi Flick	3 November 2019
1. FC Köln	Achim Beierlorzer	Sacked	9 November 2019		17th	Markus Gisdol	18 November 2019
Mainz 05	Sandro Schwarz	Mutual consent	10 November 2019		16th	Achim Beierlorzer	18 November 2019
Hertha BSC	Ante Čović		27 November 2019		15th	Jürgen Klinsmann	27 November 2019
Fortuna Düsseldorf	Friedhelm Funkel	Sacked	29 January 2020		18th	Uwe Rösler	29 January 2020
Hertha BSC	Jürgen Klinsmann	Resigned	11 February 2020		14th	Alexander Nouri (interim)	11 February 2020
FC Augsburg	Martin Schmidt	Sacked	9 March 2020		14th	Heiko Herrlich	10 March 2020
Hertha BSC	Alexander Nouri (interim)	End of caretaker spell	9 April 2020		14th	Bruno Labbadia	9 April 2020	13 April 2020
1899 Hoffenheim	Alfred Schreuder	Mutual consent	9 June 2020		7th	Matthias Kaltenbach [de] /   Marcel Rapp /   Kai Herdling (interim)	9 June 2020