title: 2020–21 FC Groningen season
text: # 2020–21 FC Groningen season
  
  The 2020–21 season was the 105th season in existence of FC Groningen and the club's 21st consecutive season in the top flight of Dutch football. In addition to the domestic league, FC Groningen participated in this season's edition of the KNVB Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
  
  ## Players
  
  ### First-team squad
  
      As of 1 February 2021
  
  Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
  
  | No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1 | GK | NED | Sergio Padt |
  | 2 | DF | SUR | Damil Dankerlui |
  | 3 | DF | NED | Bart van Hintum |
  | 4 | DF | NED | Wessel Dammers |
  | 5 | DF | JPN | Ko Itakura (on loan from Manchester City) |
  | 6 | MF | NED | Azor Matusiwa |
  | 7 | MF | SWE | Ramon Pascal Lundqvist |
  | 8 | MF | GER | Sam Schreck |
  | 9 | FW | NOR | Jørgen Strand Larsen |
  | 10 | FW | NED | Arjen Robben (captain) |
  | 11 | FW | MAR | Mohamed El Hankouri |
  | 14 | FW | NED | Patrick Joosten |
  | 15 | FW | SWE | Gabriel Gudmundsson |
  | No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
  | 17 | DF | ESP | Miguel Ángel Leal (on loan from Villarreal) |
  | 18 | MF | MAR | Ahmed El Messaoudi |
  | 19 | FW | SWE | Paulos Abraham (on loan from AIK) |
  | 21 | FW | NED | Alessio Da Cruz (on loan from Parma) |
  | 23 | GK | NOR | Per Kristian Bråtveit (on loan from Djurgårdens) |
  | 25 | GK | NED | Jan de Boer |
  | 26 | MF | NED | Daniël van Kaam |
  | 31 | MF | SVK | Tomáš Suslov |
  | 32 | DF | NED | Mike te Wierik |
  | 33 | FW | NED | Joël van Kaam |
  | 34 | FW | NED | Kian Slor |
  | 37 | FW | NED | Thijs Dallinga |
  | 48 | DF | NED | Leonel Miguel |
  
  ### Out on loan
  
  Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
  
  | No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 16 | GK | NED | Jan Hoekstra (at Roda JC Kerkrade until 30 June 2021) |
  | 19 | MF | DEN | Nicklas Strunck (at Esbjerg fB until 30 June 2021) |
  | 24 | GK | NED | Nigel Bertrams (at PEC Zwolle until 30 June 2021) |
  | No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
  | 29 | FW | NED | Romano Postema (at Den Bosch until 30 June 2021) |
  | — | DF | NED | Thomas Poll (at FC Dordrecht until 30 June 2021) |
  
  ## Transfers
  
  ### In
  
  | No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date | Source |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 10 | MF | Arjen Robben | Free agent | Free transfer | 27 June 2020 | |
  
  ### Out
  
  | No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 15 | | | TBD | | 1 July 2020 | |
  
  ## Pre-season and friendlies
  
  Win  Draw  Loss
  
  ## Competitions
  
  ### Overview
  
  | Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
  | Eredivisie | 13 September 2020 | 16 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 7th | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 041.18 |
  | Eredivisie Play-offs | 19 May 2021 | 19 May 2021 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
  | KNVB Cup | 2 December 2020 | 15 December 2020 | First round | Second round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
  | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 41 | 40 | +1 | 038.89 |
  
  Source: Soccerway
  
  ### Eredivisie
  
  **League table**
  
  | Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | 5 | Feyenoord (O) | 34 | 16 | 11 | 7 | 64 | 36 | +28 | 59 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
  | 6 | Utrecht | 34 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 53 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
  | 7 | Groningen | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 40 | 37 | +3 | 50 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
  | 8 | Sparta Rotterdam | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 49 | 48 | +1 | 47 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
  | 9 | Heracles Almelo | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 42 | 53 | −11 | 44 | |
  
  * ↑ Winner of play-off will qualify to Europa Conference League second qualifying round.
  
  **Results summary**
  
  | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  
  Source: Eredivisie
  
  **Results by round**
  
  | Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
  | Result | L | W | L | W | D | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | L | D | W | D | W | L | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | L |
  | Position | 14 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
  
  **Matches**
  
  The league fixtures were announced on 24 July 2020.
  
  