VfL Wolfsburg

VfL Wolfsburg’s crucial home victory over fellow strugglers Bochum last weekend moved them up to 13th place in the table on 31 points – four clear of the relegation play-off position. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side are not out of danger just yet but can take another step towards safety when they face SC Freiburg away at 15:30 CEST on Saturday 27 April. The hosts have not won any of their last six Bundesliga games at the Europa-Park-Stadion – a run stretching back to mid-January – but Christian Streich’s men have a good record against the Green-and-Whites on home soil: they are unbeaten in their last five encounters with the Wolves in front of their own fans (W3 D2), triumphing 3-2 and 2-0 on VfL’s last two visits.

The Wolves won 1-0 in the hugely important clash against relegation rivals Bochum to move four points clear of their opponents in the table. Jonas Wind scored the only goal just before half-time in a hard-fought contest over 90 minutes at the Volkswagen Arena, his tenth of the season and first of the year. 

There is plenty at stake for both teams when VfL Wolfsburg take on VfL Bochum at 15:30 CEST on Saturday, with only one point separating the Wolves from the Ruhr district club in the lower reaches of the Bundesliga table. Both sides changed coaches recently after poor runs of form: Ralph Hasenhüttl is set to take charge of his fourth Wolves match (W1 L2 so far), while opposite number Heiko Butscher will lead Bochum out for the second time after last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Heidenheim.

After moving to VfL Wolfsburg last summer, Joakim Maehle has quickly demonstrated his qualities and become a key figure in the VfL squad. In this interview, the 26-year-old Dane speaks about his start to life in Germany, the upcoming away match against RB Leipzig and his goalscoring feats in national colours.

Marcel Schäfer has left VfL Wolfsburg. The 39-year-old informed supervisory board chairman Frank Witter of his wish to move clubs and terminate his contract as VfL’s managing director for sport.
 
Taking all circumstances into account, the decision was made to relieve Schäfer of his duties with immediate effect.

VfL Wolfsburg were beaten in their first home match under new head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl on Sunday evening, losing 3-1 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in front of 26,105 fans at the Volkswagen Arena. Ridle Baku gave the Wolves an early lead after just seven minutes, but Ko Itakura’s equaliser against the run of play (53’) swung the game back in the visitors’ favour. Nathan Ngoumou put the Foals ahead five minutes later before Rocco Reitz completed the scoring two minutes from time, leaving VfL in 14th place in the table.

VfL Wolfsburg already have a new recruit for the 2024/25 season, with midfielder Bence Dardai joining the Wolves from Hertha BSC. The 18-year-old, who has eight appearances to his name in Bundesliga 2 for the capital club plus another in the DFB Cup, has signed a long-term contract with the Green-and-Whites. The attacking midfielder was part of the Germany team that won the U17 European Championship last year.

Amin Sarr joined VfL Wolfsburg on loan from Olympique Lyonnais at the end of August 2023. After more than half a year of ups and downs, the Swede finally made his full debut at Werder Bremen. In this interview, the 23-year-old talks about important lessons, street food and Fortnite.

VfL Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach faced off in the last 16 of the DFB Cup earlier this season. If you add the final of the 1994/95 competition as well as the teams’ 47 previous Bundesliga meetings, Sunday’s clash at the Volkswagen Arena (kick-off 17:30 CEST) will be the sides’ 50th encounter in all competitions. The Wolves may have lost those two cup games but they still have their noses in front in the head-to-head stakes, having registered 22 victories to Gladbach’s 17. They have scored 72 goals in those matches, conceding 67.

VfL Wolfsburg earned all three points in their first competitive game under new head coach Ralph Hasenhüttl, beating Werder Bremen 2-0 away on Saturday afternoon. Maxence Lacroix (45’+4) and Lovro Majer (84’) got the goals in front of 41,500 fans at the sold-out Wohninvest-Weserstadion, bringing an end to an 11-game winless run in the Bundesliga for the Green-and-Whites. Lacroix (76’) and Bremen’s Anthony Jung (43’) were each shown a red card for a profession foul.