Hannover finished bottom of the Bundesliga in 2015/16 and was relegated to 2. Bundesliga. The club chose to keep the majority of their first-team squad together. However, after a good start to the 2016/17 season, a poor run of form prompted the club's board to sack manager Daniel Stendel, and appoint Andre Breitenreiter as their new manager. He led the team to seven wins in the final 11 games, helping the 96ers secure second place behind VfB Stuttgart and bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt.