First Team

Everything still to play for

Wolves draw 0-0 with SC Paderborn in the first leg of the relegation play-off.

VfL Wolfsburg drew the first leg of their relegation play-off tie with SC Paderborn. In front of a sold-out crowd of 27,800 at the Volkswagen Arena on Thursday evening, head coach Dieter Hecking’s side played out a 0-0 draw against the third-placed team from Bundesliga 2. In an intense encounter, the Green-and-Whites were clearly the dominant side and created the better chances, while also having to survive a couple of dangerous moments at the other end. Whether the result will be enough to secure the final remaining Bundesliga spot for the 2026/2027 season will be decided on Whit Monday, 25 May (kick-off 20:30 CEST), when the second leg takes place at the Ostwestfalens’ stadium.

PERSONNEL

In the showdown at FC St. Pauli, where the Green-and-Whites secured their place in the play-off, Vini Souza picked up his fifth booking and was therefore suspended. He was replaced by Yannick Gerhardt. Otherwise, Hecking kept the same starting line-up.

Match summary

The Wolves took the initiative from the outset, but nearly suffered an early setback in the ninth minute when Santiago Castaneda fired goalwards from close range following a corner, only for Kamil Grabara and Jeanuel Belocian to combine to keep the ball out. VfL then began to build increasing pressure. Denis Vavro narrowly missed the target with a long-range effort (23’), before Adam Daghim was presented with the best chance up to that point but was denied by Manuel Seimen from a tight angle (32’). Further attempts from Daghim (34’) and Christian Eriksen (43’) also caused problems for the visitors. Overall, Wolfsburg created a clear advantage in chances before the break but were too imprecise in front of goal.

After the restart, Hecking’s men pushed even harder for the opener. Sael Kumbedi immediately caused danger with a driven cross (50’), before Eriksen tested Seimen with a free-kick later on (68’), while Gerhardt headed narrowly wide. The visitors from Ostwestfalen offered very little going forward for long periods. Then, out of nowhere, they almost turned the game on its head: after being played through with a chipped pass, Filip Bilbija lifted the ball beyond Grabara, but Vavro and Joakim Maehle combined to clear off the line. Apart from that, it was primarily Wolfsburg who continued to press and push forward. Either the decisive final pass failed to find its target, or a Paderborn defender somehow managed to intervene. Eriksen (90’+1) and Dzenan Pejcinovic (90’+6) were the last to try and force a late winner, but the Green-and-Whites simply could not find the breakthrough.

Reactions

Dieter Hecking: We have to blame ourselves for being too sloppy in the final third. Sometimes it was the final pass that was lacking, other times it was a technical mistake. That meant we ended up with a few decent half-chances, even though they could have turned into much clearer opportunities. We didn’t manage that because Paderborn also defended better than they had in their recent Bundesliga 2 matches. They didn’t open up the spaces in the same way. Of course, we also had the bit of luck you need in a relegation play-off that the ball didn’t end up going in. Apart from that, though, we defended everything very well, were extremely disciplined and didn’t allow ourselves to get drawn out. I said before the match that these would be two very tight games. So for me, none of this came as a surprise.

Ralf Kettemann: The lads did a top job, they were brave, showed courage and implemented things really well. Of course, I would have liked to have seen us get a bit more out of one or two situations. But there were also a few moments that we had to come through. We defended brilliantly with everything we had. The lads showed incredible commitment and intensity throughout. If everything had gone perfectly, we might even have grabbed a late winner in the end. But all in all, we’re naturally very pleased with the result, especially with the manner of our performance.

LINE-UPS AND STATISTICS

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Belocian, Vavro, Koulierakis – Kumbedi (Paredes 85’), Gerhardt (Majer 74’), Maehle – Svanberg (Lindström 66’), Eriksen – Daghim (Amoura 66’), Pejcinovic

Substitutes: Pervan (goalkeeper), Adjetey, Jenz, Zehnter, Shiogai

SC Paderborn: Seimen – Hansen, Brackelmann, Scheller – Curda, Klaas (Tigges 60’), Castaneda, Sticker, Müller (Bätzner 60’), Bilbija (Götze 86’) – Marino (Michel 78’)

Substitutes: Schubert (goalkeeper), Hoffmeier, Mohr, Kinsombi, Okpala

Yellow cards: Majer / Müller, Castaneda

Second yellow card: Sticker (90’+5)

Referee: Benjamin Brand (Schwebheim)

Attendance: 27,800 at the Volkswagen Arena on Thursday evening (sold out)