VFL WOLFSBURG

Following a 1-1 draw with SC Freiburg and an FC St. Pauli defeat to 1. FSV Mainz 05 this past Sunday, VfL Wolfsburg (6-8-18, 16th) have moved into sixteenth place and the relegation playoff spot going into the second-last matchweek of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season.

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Under their third head coach in the last nine months, Wolfsburg have the worst home record of any team in the Bundesliga this season, picking up just 10 of a potential 48 points (2-4-10) with a -10 goal differential (21-31). Under Dieter Hecking, whose second spell is a temporary one to rescue the club from relegation, Wolfsburg are 1-3-3 overall and 1-2-1 away, with their only victory having come on 18. April – 2-1 against 1. FC Union Berlin.

To add to this, the chances of Die Wölfe winning this match appear to be very slim. The last time that Wolfsburg defeated Bayern was a 4-1 result at Volkswagen Arena on 30. January 2015, with Bas Dost and Kevin De Bruyne responsible for two goals each. Coincidentally, Hecking led the club in that victory – and has also defeated Vincent Kompany in the one and only occasion that they have met, 3-2 with VfL Bochum at the Allianz Arena on 8. March 2025.

Since that 2015 victory, Wolfsburg, under Hecking and eleven other coaches, have failed to defeat Bayern in their last 23 Bundesliga meetings – with 4-0, 5-0, 5-1, 6-0, and 6-0 results included among the list of losses. The worst, however, was in the most recent meeting, 8-1 to Bayern at Allianz Arena on 11. January, in which Wolfsburg managed two own goals in a span of 48 minutes.

Fortunately, VfL Wolfsburg cannot be mathematically relegated this week, as they are tied on points with FC St. Pauli but have a superior goal differential (-25 to -28). Even if Wolfsburg were to lose by the same seven-goal margin as they did against Bayern in January and St. Pauli were to defeat Leipzig by one, that would make the goal difference -32 for Wolfsburg and -29 for St. Pauli – meaning that Wolfsburg would need to win by two on the final matchday to confirm sixteenth.

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In the case that Wolfsburg surprises Bayern and St. Pauli loses to Leipzig, it would mean that St. Pauli, dependent on how many goals are scored for Wolfsburg and Leipzig in those matches, would need to win by at least three goals to drop Wolfsburg to 2. Bundesliga.

Regarding Bayern and the expectation that the club has in facing the German champions, Hecking said that “I do not even know what to expect, they are a great team” and that “it is pointless to speculate about what lineup Bayern will play with, a very motivated team will be coming here and we will have to be ready for that”.

Hecking was asked about any observations that he picked up from Bayern’s match with Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, and responded by saying that “we should not look at that too much, because we do not have quite the same opportunities as Paris Saint-Germain – we need to make the best possible use of our abilities on the pitch, and then we will see what it will amount to”.

When asked about the approach the club will bring to Saturday’s match, he said, “We should not simply sit back and try to get by, because that will not work – because at some point, a gap will open where they create chances with their pace, quality, and their overall intelligence. As I said last week, and it is sometimes repeated, we need a top performance in all respects, in all areas of the game.”

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“We need a solid defensive foundation, a good one-on-one defensive system, a culture that is compact and aggressive to win possession. We need a solution with the ball when they high press, when they run at us one-on-one, that we remain courageous and do not allow completely unnecessary turnovers”, he continued.

The 61-year-old from Castrop-Rauxel, Nordrhein-Westfalen, concluded by saying: “There will be a lot of things to consider, and we probably will not succeed at every one of them, but perhaps if Bayern opens the door for us and gives us that little bit of momentum, we should recognise that and try to open those gaps a little wider.”

Team News:

The long injury list for VfL Wolfsburg is now at seven players – one less injury than last week since Swedish defensive midfielder Mattias Svanberg returned from a calf injury, with limited minutes in the match against SC Freiburg.

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German defensive midfielder and team captain Maximilian Arnold (groin) will not play another minute in a Wolfsburg uniform this season due to a pair of injuries, including one suffered in training a few days before the Freiburg match.

Cleiton Santos (ankle), Rogério (fitness), Jenson Seelt (knee), Kilian Fischer (thigh), and Jonas Wind (muscle) are doubtful to return until late May, during the promotion/relegation playoff if Wolfsburg finishes in sixteenth place. Seelt will not return next season, as he returns to Sunderland AFC following the expiry of his loan, and according to Kicker, everything is pointing to a departure for Wind in the summer as well.

Bence Dárdai (anterior cruciate ligament) remains out for two months and will likely return to the training ground during the 2026/27 preseason campaign.

Projected Lineup (3-5-2): Grabara – Koulierakis, Vavro, Belocian – Mæhle, Eriksen, Souza, Wimmer, Kumbedi – Pejčinović, Daghim.

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FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN

With their thirty-fifth Meisterschale already secured and their Champions League campaign having ended earlier this week, FC Bayern München (26-5-1, 1st) now put their focus on the remaining Bundesliga matches and then the DFB-Pokal Final on the twenty-third of May.

Vincent Kompany’s side are unbeaten on the road in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season (13-3-0), picking up 42 points of a potential 48 with a +36 goal differential (53-17). The most recent away league encounter was a stunning comeback from 0-3 down in the second half against 1. FSV Mainz 05, thanks to goals from Nicolas Jackson, Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala, and top scorer Harry Kane.

This is their third match in two competitions in eight days. Last weekend, their Bundesliga encounter with last-place 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 finished in a 3-3 draw, scraping by with a point following a Michael Olise shot that went off the back of Diant Ramaj and over the line in the final minute of stoppage time. Their Champions League semifinal second leg this past Tuesday also had a late equaliser, courtesy of Harry Kane, but it was not enough to save them as they lost 5-6 on aggregate to French side Paris Saint-Germain.

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One of the most notable statistical pieces to look at for this match is with regards to fouls; Wolfsburg, then under Daniel Bauer, gave Bayern a significant amount of space in the second half of the January match, and are likely to play a more aggressive style of defending this time, especially given the circumstances that they are in. However, they need to be careful with how many free kicks they award Bayern, as that could also open up the match; Wolfsburg have committed 375 fouls this season, fifth in the league, while Bayern have committed the third-least with 288. In terms of fouls drawn, Wolfsburg and Bayern are among the bottom three and with relatively similar numbers; Wolfsburg have won 281 free kicks or penalty shots this season, Bayern 279.

Regarding this upcoming match and how Bayern will prepare for the DFB-Pokal Final through the last two Bundesliga matches, Kompany said: “If the players are fit, then we simply have to attack and try to maintain our maximum level. We played a very late match on Wednesday, very intense, now we fly to Wolfsburg and we have to observe whether our players are energised, and whether that plays a role.”

“That does not mean that we will play better just because we are fielding the exact same team, because our guys have simply given a lot. Still, we will first look at who is actually healthy, and that will decide everything [the squad/how we play]. That is why I do not have it clear, 100% in my head. The strategy that we have is certainly good, but I want to closely observe in training which individual players will fulfil that role, and then if someone gives me the feeling that he wants to play, then we will go all out,” the 40-year-old from Uccle, Belgium added.

Regarding the Wolfsburg match and whether preparing for, and playing in, this match is an extra cost for Bayern in their now-main objective to win the DFB-Pokal, Kompany responded by saying, “There is no difference in how we prepare for PSG compared to Wolfsburg; that has been the case since day one, and we always do it that way. It takes a lot of strength, energy, and work from the staff every time, but we always do it.”

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The press conference was heavily focused on the Paris Saint-Germain match and what the club has taken from it, but Kompany gave some concluding remarks on the task at hand this weekend.

“The reason why we are in this press conference is because, of course, everything is relatively relaxed – we had this massive tension for the PSG match, but obviously, we cannot underestimate what is happening on the other side now, in the Wolfsburg dressing rooms. If Wolfsburg are watching this right now, that is exactly what they want, for us to fly there relaxed.”

“I know that there is tension [in Wolfsburg] – I know what it is like to fight for everything and I have said it before, when you are fighting for yourself and the people around you, that gives you extra energy. They have that there, they will have that in this match. So we will also put this mentality in mind for our training, we will live that in how we prepare,” Kompany concluded.

Team News:

FC Bayern have four injuries, all of which are known to be for the remainder of the current campaign.

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David Santos (thigh), Cassiano Kiala (ligament), Serge Gnabry (thigh), and Wisdom Mike (tendon) are all set to return by the start of the 2026/27 season.

Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Urbig – Davies, Itō, Kim, Stanišić – Goretzka, Kimmich – Díaz, Kane, Olise – Jackson.