Michael Rensing (born 14 May 1984) is a German former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
. He has played for
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
,
1. FC Köln
1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...
,
Bayer Leverkusen and
Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Club career
Early career
Born to a German father and a Serbian mother, Rensing joined Bayern in 2000 from TuS Lingen,
and went on to develop his talent in the club's youth sides.
He made two appearances for the
reserve side in the
2001–02 season and spending the
2002–03 season in the
Regionalliga Süd, making 34 league appearances and a cup appearance,
and won a place in the UEFA Champions League squad at the start of the following campaign as he moved up the Bayern pecking order to become
Oliver Kahn's deputy.
Bayern Munich
Rensing made his Bundesliga debut on 21 February 2004, playing the entire 90 minutes of the 1–0 home win against
Hamburger SV. He also made an appearance against
Schalke 04.
Rensing saw action in four Bundesliga matches and two cup matches in
2004–05 season and six Bundesliga matches in the
2005–06 season,
and saw his first
Champions League nod for an injured
Oliver Kahn against
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
on 21 February 2006 (Milan keeper
Dida
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) is an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14-16). DiDA was introduc ...
was injured during the match, so both sides finished with reserve goalkeepers in goal), which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 15 April 2006, Rensing was involved in a strange incident prior to a match against
Arminia Bielefeld
DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...
. He took a warm-up shot that struck goalkeeper
Oliver Kahn blackening his eye and forcing him to sit out the game. Rensing played in Kahn's place and Bayern went on to win the contest 2–0. In the
2006–07 season, he made a Bundesliga appearance against
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...
,
two cup appearances,
a league cup appearance
against Schalke 04, and a Champions League match against Milan.
As Kahn moved towards the end of his career, Rensing gradually received more playing time, covering for Kahn in his final
2007–08 season on 10 occasions in the Bundesliga,
once in the Cup,
once in the league cup,
and six in the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
.
Following Kahn's retirement in 2008, Rensing was given a chance as Bayern's first-choice goalkeeper, but was unable to cement his spot. He made 26 appearances in the Bundesliga, four cup matches, seven Champions League matches, and three reserve team matches.
Following a poor start to the 2009–10 season, his experienced teammate
Hans-Jörg Butt
Hans-Jörg Butt (; born 28 May 1974) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Known for taking penalty kicks, and for often running into the opposing penalty box in an attempt to find a winner whenever his team were trailing, h ...
replaced him as the Bavarian club's first-choice goalkeeper. Rensing had played on matchdays one, two, and three.
Although Rensing made a half-time substitute appearance for the unwell Butt in a 3–2 win at
Werder Bremen on 23 January 2010 and made three appearances in the DFB-Pokal,
and three matches for the reserve team.
Bayern opted not to renew his contract at the end of the season.
In November 2010, Rensing joined
Leicester City on trial but rejected the subsequent contract offer.
1. FC Köln
On 21 December 2010, Rensing moved to
1. FC Köln
1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...
on a six-month contract. He made 17 league appearances in the
2010–11 season.
Following his half-season at
1. FC Köln
1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...
, Rensing was voted the No.3 keeper in Germany by
kicker sports magazine. Due to his strong performance, Rensing's contract with
1. FC Köln
1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...
was extended two years to 2013. He made 32 league appearances and an appearance in the Cup during the
2011–12 season.
However, he was released by Köln upon the club's relegation in 2012. He finished his Köln career with 49 league appearances.
Bayer Leverkusen
Rensing signed for
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...
in August 2012, to serve as backup to
Bernd Leno. In his only season for the club, he played in two league matches and a cup match for the first team and a league match for the
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
.
Fortuna Düsseldorf
Rensing in 2018
Since 1 July 2013, Rensing has played for
Fortuna Düsseldorf. Before the first match of the season Rensing stormed out of training and was thus dropped from the team for that match. The argument was concerning
Fabian Giefer being selected as first-choice keeper above him. Because of this he was told that he would not be picked for league games due to his "childish reaction" over the incident. He ended up playing in five matches during the
2013–14 season.
In the
2014–15 season, Rensing has played in 12 of the first 13 games of the season in the 2. Bundesliga, and has also played in the single DFB-Pokal game.
He finished the season with 24 league matches played.
Rensing continued being the first choice keeper during the
2015–16 season with the exception of the first round cup match against
Rot Weiss Essen
Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
The team won the DFB-Pokal in 1953, and the German championship in 1955 ...
where
Lars Unnerstall
Lars Unnerstall (born 20 July 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch club FC Twente.
Club career Schalke 04
Born in Ibbenbüren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Unnerstall finished his development at FC Schalke 04 ...
played. Rensing finished the
2016–17 season with 34 league appearances and two cup appearances.
Rensing started the
2017–18 season by starting the first three league matches and the opening round of the German Cup.
Rensing picked up an injury against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
International career
Having been Germany's number one goalkeeper at the U-19 level, Rensing joined the hosts' squad at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals, although he did not get off the bench. However, he had since become the first choice at U-21, helping his team qualify for the 2006 Euro Under-21 Championship. He is eligible to play both for
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
.
Career statistics
Honours
;Bayern Munich
* Bundesliga:
2004–05,
2005–06,
2007–08,
2009–10
* DFB-Pokal:
2004–05,
2005–06,
2007–08,
2009–10
* DFB-Ligapokal:
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
*
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
runner-up:
2009–10
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rensing, Michael
1984 births
Living people
People from Lingen
Footballers from Lower Saxony
German footballers
Association football goalkeepers
FC Bayern Munich II players
FC Bayern Munich footballers
1. FC Köln players
Bayer 04 Leverkusen players
Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players
Fortuna Düsseldorf players
Germany youth international footballers
Germany under-21 international footballers
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
3. Liga players
Regionalliga players
German people of Serbian descent