Bochum’s Survival Challenge: Will Peter Zeidler’s New Squad Avoid Relegation?

Bochum will spend another year simply trying to avoid relegation.

Bochum has been back in the first division since 2021, but finished last season in the relegation zone. After an embarrassing 3-0 defeat in the first leg against Düsseldorf, Bochum rallied to win the second leg in a penalty shootout to put demotion at bay for at least another season.

Bayern Munich’s biggest win last season came at the expense of Bochum in a 7-0 shellacking that produced Harry Kane’s first hat trick of the season. Bochum stunned Bayern with a 3-2 upset in February that served as the beginning of the end for Thomas Tuchel’s short-lived tenure in Munich.

Peter Zeidler takes over a Bochum squad that said farewell to five of its top nine players from the last campaign. Zeidler has led various clubs in France, Switzerland, Austria, but his only Bundesliga experience was as an assistant at Hoffenheim from 2008-11.

Manager: Peter Zeidler, 1st year

Total market value: €49M

Starting XI market value: €38M

Formation: 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3

Key Players: Ibrahima Sissoko, midfielder; Dani de Wit, midfielder; Bernardo, left back;

Key Additions: Ibrahima Sissoko, midfielder (free transfer, Strasbourg); Dani de Wit, midfielder (free transfer, AZ Alkmaar)

Key Departures: Kevin Stöger, midfielder (free transfer, Gladbach); Patrick Osterhage, midfielder (€4.8M transfer, Freiburg); Takuma Asano, winger (free transfer, Mallorca)

2023-24 Bundesliga results: 7W-12D-15L, 33 points, 42 goals, 16th place

2024-25 European competition: n/a

Bundesliga prediction: 8W-9D-17L, 33 points, 41 goals, 16th place

Opening match: Away at Leipzig