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Wolfsburg climbs to relegation place in Freiburg (7 min)
As of: May 5, 2026 1:32 p.m
VfL Wolfsburg, which was already considered a certain relegation, has its fate back in its own hands after three unbeaten games in a row and the jump to relegation place 16. Experienced trainer Dieter Hecking seems to have made the right adjustments.
After his 450th game as Bundesliga coach, the man from Castrop-Rauxel was spoiled for choice. At least in terms of drinks. The 61-year-old was able to Press conference for the game at SC Freiburg (1:1) on Sunday evening you can choose between cola, organic hay milk, beer and still water.
At least at first. Because then there was also a high percentage option for Hecking. On the occasion of his anniversary, his trainer colleague Julian Schuster presented him with a light wooden box containing three bottles of Breisgau Burgundy. “From my perspective, it’s unimaginable how you can get there. Great admiration and a great compliment,” Freiburg’s coach praised the Wolfsburg trainer.
Hecking was visibly flattered. He left the wine untouched. But perhaps he will open a bottle of the fine wine on Saturday evening when his team achieves a sensation in the duel with champions FC Bayern Munich (6.30 p.m., in the live center at NDR.de) and may thus more or less secure 16th place.
VfL now against Bayern: “Something can happen”
Sounds like a belated April Fool’s joke? No longer! On the one hand, after some scary performances under Hecking, VfL has fought its way out of its slump and stabilized both in football and mental terms. On the other hand, the Über-Bayern will hit the bone on the Aller with the Champions League second leg at Paris Saint-Germain (Wednesday, 9 p.m., in the full audio report in the NDR Livecenter).
And anyway, the record champion has recently let day-to-day business slide somewhat after winning the title early. Against bottom team 1. FC Heidenheim last Saturday, a 3-3 draw was only avoided at the last second.
“It shows that something can happen,” said Hecking, referring to Württemberg’s draw on the Isar. In any case, the 61-year-old is far from having panic attacks before the game against Munich: “These are the games, that’s why you do it. That’s why you play football, that’s why you’re a coach, that’s why you’re a fan.”
Wolfsburg first in the long-distance duel then in the direct duel with St. Pauli
Nobody speaks like that if they are frozen in awe. So says someone who took off Bayern’s famous lederhosen not so long ago. Because in the 2024/2025 season, the coach and VfL Bochum won sensationally 3-2 in Munich on matchday 25. However: The Ruhrpott club subsequently remained winless eight times and was already relegated before the away encounter on the last matchday at FC St. Pauli (2-0).
Parallelism of events: Hecking will also play at the Kiezclub on the last match day this season. This time, however, the starting position should be better than back then, even in the event of a defeat against Bayern. Hamburg, who are tied on points, also have an extremely difficult task ahead of them on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) away to RB Leipzig.
Ideally for VfL, the neighborhood club first loses to the Saxons and the Wolfsburg team themselves then pull off a big coup against Munich. Then the “Wolves” would be able to travel to Millerntor with three points and a few goals lead.
Hecking: “Team has character”
It was unthinkable a few weeks ago that such dreams would suddenly be allowed again on the Mittelland Canal. The 2009 champions wandered around the pitch like football and left the impression of a divided team that only longed for salvation: the end of the season.
One of Hecking’s first tasks after taking office was to bring about cohesion again. Successfully. Most recently, the Lower Saxony team appeared as a unified unit and gained five points in the last three encounters.
“It’s about the attitude we show. And this team has received a hell of a lot of criticism in the last few months. And they are currently working on making sure that they are not as bad as they were made out to be. They have shown that they have character. They are fully committed to solving this,” said Hecking.
“Wolves” also improved their football under Hecking
Not only did VfL appear united recently, but they also knew how to play better again.
But only with a lot of will – and the coach is also aware of this – will the next two tasks and then the desired relegation games hardly be able to be played successfully. It’s all the more pleasing for Hecking to see that the content is now making slow progress.
“We didn’t just play the ball forward haphazardly, we actually started playing football. That was the next step I was hoping for. Because you can see that this team wants to play football. They’re not a typical relegation battle team. But they’re internalizing it more and more,” praised the coach after the Freiburg game.
Coach doesn’t take big names into account
With the right approach and some courageous personnel decisions, the 61-year-old has instilled new self-confidence in the team and given it stability again. To date, he has not taken any supposedly big names into account. The Wolfsburg substitute bench in Freiburg was prominently staffed by, among others, the sinfully expensive purchases Lovro Majer, Mohamed Amoura and Mattias Svanberg.
Even “perennial favorites” Yannick Gerhardt, central defender Moritz Jenz and US international Kevin Paredes were initially just “jokers”. Captain Maximilian Arnold was also missing due to injury. In terms of individual players, VfL will undoubtedly not be in the bottom of the table.
But because many good individuals don’t always make a good team, Hecking now has to try his hand at being a “firefighter” again. “Every Bundesliga game is still a highlight for me, I love this job, I love this league,” he explained.
If he manages to save VfL, it would perhaps be one of the greatest successes of his long career, given the already pretty hopeless situation.
