The sheer fact that it’s April 21 and Wolfsburg are in the Bundesliga danger zone will beggar belief for some football fans, as well as beg the question: where has it gone wrong.
Indeed, for a club which was Bundesliga runners-up as recently as 2015, and has not finished outside the top 12 in eight years, including an eighth place finish less than three years ago, the plight of the ‘Wolves’ – ever presents in the German top flight for almost 30 years –has shocked many this term.
Yet hope springs eternal and their first win in more than three months, a 2-1 success at Union Berlin on Saturday, has given them a glimmer with four league matches remaining.
Realistically, it is a play-off they will likely have to navigate to preserve their top flight status (they trail 16th place St Pauli by two points, while the gap to 15th place and guaranteed safety stands at six points).
But that is now a possibility after they secured their first victory since defeating St Pauli in January, which actually took them to the lofty heights of 11th place at the time.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t pretty, but all that matters, especially at this stage, is the result, not the performance.
Union Berlin, who made history as Marie Louise-Eta became the first female coach in the highest level of the men’s game, dominated for large periods, managing 27 shots – including seven on target – to their opponents’ five. However, the visitors were clinical, breaking the deadlock through Patrick Wimmer early on before Dženan Pejčinović doubled their advantage almost immediately after the interval.
That sealed some rare Bundesliga 2026 highlights and brought to an end a 12-game winless run, a streak which included defeats to relegation rivals Werder Bremen, Hamburg and Cologne, as well as a draw with rock-bottom Heidenheim.
The victory also came on a special day for club captain Maximilian Arnold, who made his 400th Bundesliga appearance as a late substitute. One of the few constants at Wolfsburg in recent years, he is already the club’s record appearance-maker, while no other player currently at the club has scored as many as his 49 goals in all competitions.
With Arnold and co now just two points behind Pauli, it may go down to the wire, which would mean a winner-takes-all encounter between the Kiezkicker and Wolfsburg at the Millerntor on the final day of the season.
First, though, they must get as much as they can out of fixtures against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Freiburg and newly crowned champions Bayern Munich to put themselves in the best position.
The position they currently find themselves in may seem unfathomable
Not long after I started working for this organisation, I recall Wolfsburg defeating my beloved Man Utd to knock them out of the Champions League.
And it’s less than 18 months since they were being talked about as being in the European mix.
It’s only 12 months since my SBOTOP colleague predicted they were in need of a pick-me-up but few felt they would fall so low, not even the Bundesliga 2026 betting odds at the turn of the year.
While their tally of 41 goals is respectable, no team has conceded more in the league this season.
Daniel Bauer became the second Wolfsburg coach to be dismissed this term following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Hamburg last month. His replacement Dieter Hecking then started his tenure by gaining a valuable point against Hoffenheim before defeats against Werder Bremen, Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Saturday’s victory at Berlin, though, has given them renewed hope.
Wolverhampton Wanderers may have lost their top flight status in the English Premier League but their German equivalents are still kicking. Can they claw back from the brink? The escape may well be on.
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