What has to happen for one of the largest Spanish daily newspapers to print the following sentence? “Wolfsburg in the style of Real Madrid!” That was the headline in the newspaper “El Mundo” during the 2014/15 season. VfL had just spectacularly defeated FC Bayern Munich 4-1. “Suddenly Wolfsburg appeared and messed up Bayern’s film,” the Spanish reporters continued in their text. The Lower Saxony team were currently Bayern's number one hunters – well on the way to perhaps even becoming FCB's worst competitor?
Review. Bayern hunters. Runner-up. And then also winner of the DFB Cup. That was Wolfsburg’s reality in the 2014/15 season. A then 23-year-old Kevin De Bruyne amazed the Bundesliga – the Belgian scored a total of 31 points, including 21 assists. His main buyer at the time: striker Bas Dost with 16 goals. Incidentally, both scored a brace each in the 4-1 win against Bayern Munich. In addition to the runner-up and cup triumph, the Wolves also made it to the knockout round of the Europa League, but were defeated by SSC Napoli in the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, everything seemed ready for a glorious future for the Volkswagen Club from the Autostadt.
Things were supposed to be different. In the following season there was only an eighth place in the table and the European football was missed. In 2017 and 2018, Wolfsburg even had to go into relegation, but they barely jumped off the cliff of relegation to the 2nd Bundesliga: First, the Green-Whites prevented themselves from going into the second division in their Lower Saxony duel with Eintracht Braunschweig, and then repeated the feat the following season with victory over Holstein Kiel. The Wolves then stabilised again, all three following seasons were able to finish in European positions, and in the 2021/22 season the team from the Autostadt even played in the Champions League again. Since then, however, things have been going wrong in the league again, and last year Wolfsburg clearly missed their goals with a 12th place finish.
This season, too, things are going completely differently than those responsible had imagined. In March, VfL parted ways with coach Nico Kovac. He was followed by Ralph Hasenhüttl, the Austrian was recently able to celebrate two victories with his team and thus at least reduce the fear of relegation. But Wolfsburg is not yet saved three match days before the end of the season. Instead, it’s still all on the line for VfL three match days before the end of the 2023/24 season. Lower Saxony is currently in 12th place, but definitely still has to look in the rear view mirror. A game for Wolfsburg next Saturday (May 4th/3:30pm) that is still of enormous importance for them. For the Lilies, it’s all about saying goodbye to the Bundesliga with their heads held high, so they want to score a point or two in the remaining games. Before the game in which the hosts could finally save themselves, we take a closer look at VfL Wolfsburg.
“That feeling of winning is something you can get addicted to. And that’s also the reason why you can never completely stop playing football. It’s hard to compare that with anything else,“ said Ralph Hasenhüttl in an interview with Sky, after his first win as the new head coach of VfL Wolfsburg. The 56-year-old previously took a break of around one and a half years as a trainer after being dismissed from Southampton in November 2022. After his time in England, the Austrian considered quitting his coaching career entirely because he “couldn’t see any more games.” He had become somewhat over-saturated, but now he is back on the Bundesliga coaching bench.
But when taking a closer look at the coaching staff at VfL Wolfsburg, the alert reader stumbles upon the name Hasenhüttl twice. Ralph brought his son Patrick with him to Lower Saxony as an assistant coach. “We always talked about how it would be nice to work together someday. He was always the most critical observer of our games. In general, it was important to me that I had people around me who knew my path and what made me tick. That’s what actually interested me the most,” says father Ralph.
At VfL, the Hasenhüttl family’s first priority is to stay in the league, which could already be mathematically determined next weekend. It’s no secret that Ralph Hasenhüttl would prefer to look further up in sport – just a look at his CV is enough: As a player, the former striker won four Austrian championships, the neighboring country’s cup three times and rose to the top with 1. FC Köln Bundesliga. He also has some successes in his coaching career; Hasenhüttel’s career began on the sidelines in Unterhaching. With VfR Aalen he achieved promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2012, and with FC Ingolstadt he was even promoted to the Bundesliga three years later.
Hasenhüttl has taken continuous steps in his career. After his stint in Ingolstadt, the Austrian went to Leipzig and led the Saxons into the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. In the spring of 2018 he ended his time in Leipzig at his own request, and around six months later he took over FC Southampton.
Now the 56-year-old is in Lower Saxony at VfL Wolfsburg, the batteries have been recharged and he is really keen on the task. The former striker also took advice from Jürgen Klopp: “(He) once said to me: As a coach, I miss things that I simply don’t have time for. And when he is no longer a coach, he will miss this job. Both together don’t work. You should always try to feel comfortable in the moment you are in.”
| Top Scorers | Top Assists |
| Jonas Wind, 11 Goals | Jonas Wind, 8 Assists |
| Lovro Majer, 5 Goals | Lovro Majer, 4 Assists |
| Vaclav Cerny, 4 Goals | Mattias Svanberg, 4 Assists |
| Maxence Lacroix, 4 Goals | Joakim Maehle, 4 Assists |
| Yannick Gerhardt, 3 Goals | Tiago Tomas, 4 Assists |
The great strength of VfL Wolfsburg remains their willingness to run and their intensity – everything that was the case in the first half of the season. With 24,561 intensive runs, the Lower Saxony team is in first place in the league-wide statistics, while Eintracht Frankfurt in second place has around 900 fewer runs. In the sprints, VfL is only topped by the promoted team from Heidenheim; the Wolves have already recorded 7,657 sprints.
By the way, these strong numbers are not entirely surprising; Wolfsburg’s statistics in these areas were already at an absolute top level last season. It will be exciting to see whether VfL can maintain this strength under Ralph Hasenhüttl, who has only been in office since March.
It was about 55 meters to the Darmstadt goal, goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen was relatively far in front of his goal, so Jonas Wind took heart and just held on. The ball landed a good half a meter next to the goal – lucky from the SVD’s point of view. Wind could have entered the list of the longest goals in the Bundesliga in the first half of the season against the sports club. It wasn’t enough on this cold December day, but Wind still scored the assist for the Wolves‘ 0-1 away win.
The 25-year-old has made a name for himself in his first two years in the Bundesliga since the Dane arrived in Lower Saxony from FC Copenhagen in January 2022. The attacker has played for the Danish capital club since the U13 level, grew into a European attacking talent and made it into the Danish national team. In Copenhagen, Wind was not only able to celebrate personal success, he also managed to immortalise himself with his team. In the 2018/19 and 2021/22 seasons he won the Danish championship with FC Copenhagen.
Wind and his VfL Wolfsburg are a long way away from the German championship, but it was in this first half of the season that the Dane showed what qualities he has. After six games, the striker had already scored seven goals, something no VfL player had achieved before. “I’m just standing right most of the time,” said Wind in the fall of 2023 when asked what his recipe for success was.
This calendar year, scoring goals is much more difficult for the 25-year-old; Wind was only able to score one goal in 2024, a week and a half ago Wind scored in a 1-0 win against VfL Bochum. But despite his goal drought, Wind is proving to be important for Wolfsburg; with eight assists already, the Dane is the Wolves‘ strongest assist provider.
Privately, Jonas Wind is considered to be a very quiet guy; the FAZ portrayed him last fall as a player and person who seems like a “nice young man” who “lives next door, plays football quite well in the national league and enjoys his life.” Maybe that’s exactly his secret: the calm that he radiates and that he gets in the VfL Wolfsburg environment.
Autographs, photos, and personal encounters with the Lilies: You'll have the opportunity to do so on Thursday (May 7th) from 5pm to 6pm. As part of an autograph session presented by Merck, Patric Pfeiffer, Kai Klefisch, and Fynn Lakenmacher will be at the Merck Stadium at Böllenfalltor. You'll also receive a ten percent discount in the fan shop during this time.
Darmstadt's 2-1 defeat at Karlsruher SC also ended any remaining theoretical hopes the South Hessian club had of finishing the season in the top three. The loss at the Wildpark stadium served somewhat as a symbol for the past few weeks, during which SV 98 had only managed one point from five matches since the international break in March. Following the game on Sunday afternoon, the Darmstadt players addressed the assembled media representatives with mixed feelings.
Three points! SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team secured a victory in the Lotto Hessenliga on Saturday afternoon (May 2nd). In their match against Hünfelder SV, the young Lilies overcame an early deficit to clinch a convincing 3-1 win. This result puts the U21 team currently outside the relegation zone. "Our trend is clearly upward," said a delighted U21 coach Sebastian Schmitt.
The successful collaboration between the Hessian Disabled and Rehabilitation Sports Association (HBRS) and SV Darmstadt 98 will continue long-term: Both partners have extended their existing agreement to promote inclusive sports indefinitely. This sends a clear signal for the sustainable development of inclusion and disability sports in Hesse.
A bitter end in Karlsruhe: After 90 entertaining minutes in which both teams sought salvation in attack, Darmstadt suffered a narrow defeat. The final score was 2-1 after a late goal from the home side, following Isac Lidberg's earlier equaliser. After the match, the players were particularly frustrated with the missed opportunities in the first half.
The away form continues to be poor: SV 98 suffered a 2-1 (0-0) defeat against Karlsruher SC. Lidberg scored the equaliser for the team from southern Hesse in the 70th minute.
Darmstadt 98 visit Karlsruher SC on matchday 32 (May 3rd, 1:30 PM). Florian Kohfeldt has made five changes to his starting lineup. Killian Corredor replaces the injured Fraser Hornby, Aleksandar Vukotic comes in for the suspended Patric Pfeiffer, and Fabian Holland starts in place of Matej Maglica, who is sidelined with an ankle injury. Merveille Papela and Niklas Schmidt also join the team, replacing Sergio Lopez and Yosuke Furukawa. In addition to Hornby, Pfeiffer, and Maglica, Darmstadt will also be without the injured Matthias Bader, Fabian Nürnberger, and Luca Marseiler.
Finally, the weekend is here, finally Sunday! On Sunday afternoon (May 3rd, 1:30pm), SV Darmstadt 98 will face Karlsruher SC away. What do the two coaches have to say about the match, who will be refereeing, and where can you watch it if you're not at the stadium? All the important information about the Lilies' 32nd matchday is compiled for you here in "Matchday Guide".
Continuity in sporting management: SV Darmstadt 98 has extended Paul Fernie's contract early and for the long term. As part of the contract extension, the current sporting director will move into the club's management board and will now serve as managing director of sport.
Our head coach spoke at the press conference before the away game against Karlsruher SC (May 3rd/1:30pm) about the mental freshness of his team, the course of action for the remaining games and his coaching colleague, whose commitment to KSC will end after six years this season.
Left hook, 'One hundred and eightyyyyyyy', and hand over the baton. Doesn't sound like football – and that's true. KSC is often associated with professional football, but with the sheer number of titles the club has won, it's worth looking beyond the pitch. Titles from Baden-Württemberg to Rome.
In a rescheduled Lotto Hessenliga match, SV Darmstadt 98's U21 team hosted SV Hummetroth at their youth academy on Wednesday evening (April 29th) but unfortunately came away empty-handed. Despite a spirited performance and playing with one man less, the score after 90 minutes was 3-1 in favour of Hummetroth.