2022–23 VfL Wolfsburg season

VfL Wolfsburg
2022–23 season
OwnerVolkswagen AG (of GmbH)
Executive DirectorFrank Witter
ManagerNiko Kovač
StadiumVolkswagen Arena
Bundesliga8th
DFB-PokalRound of 16
Top goalscorerLeague:
Yannick Gerhardt
Jonas Wind
(6 each)

All:
Yannick Gerhardt
Omar Marmoush
Jonas Wind
(6 each)

The 2022–23 season was the 78th season in the existence of VfL Wolfsburg and the club's 26th consecutive season in the top flight of German football. In addition to the domestic league, VfL Wolfsburg participated in this season's editions of the DFB-Pokal. The season covers the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

Players[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

As of 28 January 2023[1][2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Belgium BEL Koen Casteels (vice-captain)
2 DF Germany GER Kilian Fischer
3 DF Belgium BEL Sebastiaan Bornauw
4 DF France FRA Maxence Lacroix
5 DF Netherlands NED Micky van de Ven
6 DF Brazil BRA Paulo Otávio
7 FW Germany GER Luca Waldschmidt
8 DF France FRA Nicolas Cozza
10 FW Germany GER Lukas Nmecha
12 GK Austria AUT Pavao Pervan
16 MF Poland POL Jakub Kamiński
18 FW Germany GER Dzenan Pejcinovic
20 MF Germany GER Ridle Baku
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF Germany GER Felix Nmecha
23 FW Denmark DEN Jonas Wind
27 MF Germany GER Maximilian Arnold (captain)
29 MF France FRA Josuha Guilavogui
30 GK Germany GER Niklas Klinger
31 MF Germany GER Yannick Gerhardt
32 MF Sweden SWE Mattias Svanberg
33 FW Egypt EGY Omar Marmoush
35 GK Germany GER Philipp Schulze
36 MF Czech Republic CZE Lukáš Ambros
38 MF Croatia CRO Bartol Franjić
39 FW Austria AUT Patrick Wimmer
40 MF United States USA Kevin Paredes
42 DF Germany GER Felix Lange

Players out on loan[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF United States USA Bryang Kayo (on loan at Nürnberg II until 30 June 2023)
8 MF Belgium BEL Aster Vranckx (on loan at AC Milan until 30 June 2023)
17 FW Germany GER Maximilian Philipp (on loan at Werder Bremen until 30 June 2023)
18 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Anselmo García MacNulty (on loan at NAC Breda until 30 June 2023)
21 FW Poland POL Bartosz Białek (on loan at Vitesse until 30 June 2023)
No. Pos. Nation Player
26 FW United States USA Ulysses Llanez (on loan at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2023)
34 DF Croatia CRO Marin Pongračić (on loan at U.S. Lecce until 30 June 2023)
39 DF Germany GER Tim Siersleben (on loan at 1. FC Heidenheim until 30 June 2023)
49 MF Spain ESP Fabio Di Michele Sanchez (on loan at NAC Breda until 30 June 2023)

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

No. Pos Player Transferred from Fee Date Source
14 MF Croatia Josip Brekalo Italy Torino Loan Return 30 June 2022
34 DF Croatia Marin Pongračić Germany Borussia Dortmund Loan return
33 FW Egypt Omar Marmoush Germany VfB Stuttgart Loan return
37 MF Germany Elvis Rexhbeçaj Germany Vfl Bochum Loan return
29 MF France Joshua Guilavogui France Bordeaux Loan return
45 GK Germany Lino Kasten Austria St. Pölten Loan return
2 DF Germany Kilian Fischer Germany 1. FC Nürnberg €2,500,000 1 July 2022 [3]
16 FW Poland Jakub Kamiński Poland Lech Poznań €10,000,000 [4]
39 MF Austria Patrick Wimmer Germany Arminia Bielefeld €5,000,000 [5]
38 MF Croatia Bartol Franjić Croatia Dinamo Zagreb €7,500,000 [6]
18 FW Germany Dženan Pejčinović Germany FC Augsburg U19 €1,250,000 14 July 2022 [7]
32 MF Sweden Mattias Svanberg Italy Bologna €9,000,000 16 July 2022 [8]
8 DF France Nicolas Cozza France Montpellier €500,000 25 January 2023 [9]

Out[edit]

No. Pos Player Transferred to Fee Date Source
28 FW Belgium Dodi Lukebakio Germany Hertha BSC Loan return 30 June 2022
2 DF Brazil William Free transfer 1 July 2022
24 MF Austria Xaver Schlager Germany RB Leipzig €12,000,000 [10]
25 DF United States John Brooks Portugal Benfica Free transfer [11][12]
18 DF Republic of Ireland Anselmo Garcia MacNulty Netherlands NAC Breda Loan 19 July 2022 [13]
49 MF Spain Fabio Di Michele Sanchez Netherlands NAC Breda Loan
19 DF Switzerland Kevin Mbabu England Fulham €7,000,000 27 July 2022 [14]
37 MF Germany Elvis Rexhbeçaj Germany FC Augsburg €1,700,000 [15]
34 DF Croatia Marin Pongračić Italy Lecce Loan[A] 22 August 2022 [16]
21 FW Poland Bartosz Białek Netherlands Vitesse Loan 29 August 2022 [17]
11 MF Switzerland Renato Steffen Switzerland FC Lugano €750,000 30 August 2022 [18]
8 MF Belgium Aster Vranckx Italy AC Milan Loan[B] 1 September 2022 [19]
45 GK Germany Lino Kasten Contract termination [20]
9 FW Germany Max Kruse Contract termination 28 November 2022 [21]
15 DF France Jérôme Roussillon Germany Union Berlin Undisclosed 12 January 2023 [22]
14 MF Croatia Josip Brekalo Italy Fiorentina Undisclosed 28 January 2023 [23]
17 FW Germany Maximilian Philipp Germany Werder Bremen Loan 30 January 2023 [24]
  1. ^ Includes an option to sign permanently.
  2. ^ Includes an option to sign permanently.

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixtures

25 June 2022 Friendly VfL Wolfsburg Germany 9–1 Germany Veltins XI Wolfsburg, Germany
18:00
Report
Stadium: Sportzentrum Fallersleben
Attendance: 1,850
2 July 2022 Volkswagen Cup VfL Osnabrück Germany 3–1 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Osnabrück, Germany
14:00
Report Stadium: Bremer Brücke
Attendance: 5,712
Note: Match was one half of 45 minutes.
2 July 2022 Volkswagen Cup VfL Wolfsburg Germany 1–1 Germany Hannover 96 Osnabrück, Germany
15:00
Report Stadium: Bremer Brücke
Attendance: 5,712
Note: Match was one half of 45 minutes.
9 July 2022 Friendly WSG Tirol Austria 1–7 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Wattens, Austria
17:30
Report
Stadium: Gernot Langes Stadion
16 July 2022 Friendly Mechelen Belgium 3–4 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Alkmaar, Netherlands
16:00 Report Stadium: AFAS Stadion
23 July 2022 Friendly VfL Wolfsburg Germany 4–0 England Brentford Wolfsburg, Germany
16:00
Report Stadium: AOK Stadion
Attendance: 3,512
Referee: Felix Bickel (Germany)
31 July 2022 Friendly VfL Wolfsburg Germany 3–1 Germany Hessen Kassel Wolfsburg, Germany
11:00 Stadium: AOK Stadion
22 September 2022 Friendly VfL Wolfsburg Germany 0–0 Germany Hansa Rostock Wolfsburg, Germany
13:00 CEST (UTC+2) Stadium: AOK Stadion
Attendance: 0
10 December 2022 Friendly VfL Wolfsburg Germany 1–1 Denmark Nordsjælland Wolfsburg, Germany
13:00 CET (UTC+1) Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Referee: Felix Bickel (Germany)
17 December 2022 Friendly Brentford England 2–2 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Brentford, England
15:00 GMT (UTC±0)
Report Stadium: Brentford Community Stadium
6 January 2023 Friendly 1899 Hoffenheim Germany 2–3 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Almancil, Portugal
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report Stadium: Estádio Municipal de Almancil
14 January 2023 Friendly FC Augsburg Germany 0–4 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Augsburg, Germany
13:00 CET (UTC+1) Report
Stadium: FCA-Trainingsgelände
14 January 2023 Friendly FC Augsburg Germany 1–0 Germany VfL Wolfsburg Augsburg, Germany
15:00 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: FCA-Trainingsgelände

Competitions[edit]

Overall record[edit]

Competition First match Last match Starting round Final position Record
Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
Bundesliga 6 August 2022 27 May 2023 Matchday 1 8th 34 13 10 11 57 48 +9 038.24
DFB-Pokal 30 July 2022 31 January 2023 First round Round of 16 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 066.67
Total 37 15 10 12 61 51 +10 040.54

Source: Soccerway

Bundesliga[edit]

League table[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
6 Bayer Leverkusen 34 14 8 12 57 49 +8 50 Qualification for the Europa League group stage[a]
7 Eintracht Frankfurt 34 13 11 10 58 52 +6 50 Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round[a]
8 VfL Wolfsburg 34 13 10 11 57 48 +9 49
9 Mainz 05 34 12 10 12 54 55 −1 46
10 Borussia Mönchengladbach 34 11 10 13 52 55 −3 43
Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Away goals scored; 7) Play-off.[25]
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Since the 2022–23 DFB-Pokal winners, RB Leipzig, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the Europa League group stage spot was passed to the sixth-placed team, and the Europa Conference League play-off round spot was passed to the seventh-placed team.

Results summary[edit]

Overall Home Away
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts W D L GF GA GD W D L GF GA GD
34 13 10 11 57 48  +9 49 6 7 4 34 25  +9 7 3 7 23 23  0

Source: DFB

Results by round[edit]

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
GroundHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH
ResultDLDLLWLWDDDWWWWWWLLDLWDDWDLDWWLWLL
Position8141415171617131313141211877777777887999877678
Source: DFB
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches[edit]

The league fixtures were announced on 17 June 2022.[26]

6 August 2022 1 VfL Wolfsburg 2–2 Werder Bremen Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 28,015
Referee: Sascha Stegemann
14 August 2022 2 Bayern Munich 2–0 VfL Wolfsburg Munich
17:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Allianz Arena
Attendance: 75,000
Referee: Harm Osmers
20 August 2022 3 VfL Wolfsburg 0–0 Schalke 04 Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 26,959
Referee: Felix Zwayer
27 August 2022 4 RB Leipzig 2–0 VfL Wolfsburg Leipzig
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Red Bull Arena
Attendance: 41,243
Referee: Bastian Dankert
3 September 2022 5 VfL Wolfsburg 2–4 1. FC Köln Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 25,654
Referee: Matthias Jöllenbeck
10 September 2022 6 Eintracht Frankfurt 0–1 VfL Wolfsburg Frankfurt
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Deutsche Bank Park
Attendance: 49,000
Referee: Tobias Reichel
18 September 2022 7 Union Berlin 2–0 VfL Wolfsburg Berlin
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report Stadium: Stadion An der Alten Försterei
Attendance: 22,012
Referee: Robert Schröder
1 October 2022 8 VfL Wolfsburg 3–2 VfB Stuttgart Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 24,125
Referee: Felix Zwayer
8 October 2022 9 FC Augsburg 1–1 VfL Wolfsburg Augsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: WWK Arena
Attendance: 26,220
Referee: Daniel Siebert
15 October 2022 10 VfL Wolfsburg 2–2 Borussia Mönchengladbach Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 26,701
Referee: Benjamin Cortus
22 October 2022 11 Bayer Leverkusen 2–2 VfL Wolfsburg Leverkusen
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: BayArena
Attendance: 26,294
Referee: Felix Brych
29 October 2022 12 VfL Wolfsburg 4–0 VfL Bochum Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 24,037
Referee: Robert Hartmann
5 November 2022 13 Mainz 05 0–3 VfL Wolfsburg Mainz
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Mewa Arena
Attendance: 26,750
Referee: Daniel Siebert
8 November 2022 14 VfL Wolfsburg 2–0 Borussia Dortmund Wolfsburg
18:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 28,675
Referee: Christian Dingert
12 November 2022 15 1899 Hoffenheim 1–2 VfL Wolfsburg Sinsheim
15:30 CET (UTC+1) Report
Stadium: Rhein-Neckar-Arena
Attendance: 18,014
Referee: Daniel Schlager
21 January 2023 16 VfL Wolfsburg 6–0 SC Freiburg Wolfsburg
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 25,849
Referee: Felix Zwayer
24 January 2023 17 Hertha BSC 0–5 VfL Wolfsburg Berlin
20:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Olympiastadion
Attendance: 29,483
Referee: Tobias Reichel
28 January 2023 18 Werder Bremen 2–1 VfL Wolfsburg Bremen
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Weserstadion
Attendance: 41,000
Referee: Daniel Siebert
5 February 2023 19 VfL Wolfsburg 2–4 Bayern Munich Wolfsburg
17:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Harm Osmers
10 February 2023 20 Schalke 04 0–0 VfL Wolfsburg Gelsenkirchen
20:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Veltins-Arena
Attendance: 60,836
Referee: Benjamin Brand
18 February 2023 21 VfL Wolfsburg 0–3 RB Leipzig Wolfsburg
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 24,831
Referee: Deniz Aytekin
25 February 2023 22 1. FC Köln 0–2 VfL Wolfsburg Cologne
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion
Attendance: 49,300
Referee: Frank Willenborg
5 March 2023 26 VfL Wolfsburg 2–2 Eintracht Frankfurt Wolfsburg
17:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 27,853
Referee: Daniel Schlager
12 March 2023 27 VfL Wolfsburg 1–1 Union Berlin Wolfsburg
19:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 23,554
Referee: Robert Schröder
18 March 2023 25 VfB Stuttgart 0–1 VfL Wolfsburg Stuttgart
15:30 CET (UTC+1)
Report Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena
Attendance: 44,900
Referee: Felix Brych
1 April 2023 26 VfL Wolfsburg 2–2 FC Augsburg Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 22,107
Referee: Martin Petersen
9 April 2023 27 Borussia Mönchengladbach 2–0 VfL Wolfsburg Mönchengladbach
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Borussia-Park
Attendance: 51,127
Referee: Timo Gerach
16 April 2023 28 VfL Wolfsburg 0–0 Bayer Leverkusen Wolfsburg
19:30 CEST (UTC+2) Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 20,137
Referee: Sascha Stegemann
22 April 2023 29 VfL Bochum 1–5 VfL Wolfsburg Bochum
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Vonovia Ruhrstadion
Attendance: 24,834
Referee: Felix Brych
30 April 2023 30 VfL Wolfsburg 3–0 Mainz 05 Wolfsburg
17:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 23,817
Referee: Daniel Siebert
7 May 2023 31 Borussia Dortmund 6–0 VfL Wolfsburg Dortmund
17:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Signal Iduna Park
Attendance: 81,365
Referee: Marco Fritz
13 May 2023 32 VfL Wolfsburg 2–1 1899 Hoffenheim Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 22,617
Referee: Tobias Stieler
19 May 2023 33 SC Freiburg 2–0 VfL Wolfsburg Freiburg
20:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Europa-Park Stadion
Attendance: 33,300
Referee: Bastian Dankert
27 May 2023 34 VfL Wolfsburg 1–2 Hertha BSC Wolfsburg
15:30 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Volkswagen Arena
Attendance: 26,775
Referee: Benjamin Cortus

DFB-Pokal[edit]

30 July 2022 First round Carl Zeiss Jena 0–1 VfL Wolfsburg Jena
18:01 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld
Attendance: 6,100
Referee: Florian Heft
18 October 2022 Second round Eintracht Braunschweig 1–2 VfL Wolfsburg Braunschweig
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)
Report
Stadium: Eintracht-Stadion
Attendance: 22,000
Referee: Daniel Schlager
31 January 2023 Round of 16 Union Berlin 2–1 VfL Wolfsburg Berlin
20:45 CET (UTC+1)
Report
Stadium: Stadion An der Alten Försterei
Attendance: 22,012
Referee: Sascha Stegemann

Statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals[edit]

No. Pos Nat Player Total Bundesliga DFB-Pokal
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Goalkeepers
1 GK Belgium BEL Koen Casteels 36 0 34 0 2 0
12 GK Austria AUT Pavao Pervan 1 0 0 0 1 0
30 GK Germany GER Niklas Klinger 0 0 0 0 0 0
35 GK Germany GER Philipp Schulze 0 0 0 0 0 0
Defenders
2 DF Germany GER Kilian Fischer 10 0 5+5 0 0 0
3 DF Belgium BEL Sebastiaan Bornauw 28 1 23+3 1 2 0
4 DF France FRA Maxence Lacroix 26 1 18+6 1 2 0
5 DF Netherlands NED Micky van de Ven 36 1 33 1 3 0
6 DF Brazil BRA Paulo Otávio 27 0 25 0 2 0
8 DF France FRA Nicolas Cozza 6 0 0+5 0 0+1 0
42 DF Germany GER Felix Lange 0 0 0 0 0 0
Midfielders
16 MF Poland POL Jakub Kamiński 33 5 25+6 4 1+1 1
20 MF Germany GER Ridle Baku 36 5 29+4 5 3 0
22 MF England ENG Felix Nmecha 32 3 19+11 3 0+2 0
27 MF Germany GER Maximilian Arnold 34 5 32 5 2 0
29 MF France FRA Josuha Guilavogui 26 1 11+12 1 1+2 0
31 MF Germany GER Yannick Gerhardt 31 6 22+7 6 2 0
32 MF Sweden SWE Mattias Svanberg 35 5 21+11 4 3 1
36 MF Czech Republic CZE Lukáš Ambros 1 0 0+1 0 0 0
38 MF Croatia CRO Bartol Franjić 6 0 3+2 0 0+1 0
39 MF Austria AUT Patrick Wimmer 29 4 23+3 4 2+1 0
40 MF United States USA Kevin Paredes 24 1 1+21 1 0+2 0
Forwards
7 FW Germany GER Luca Waldschmidt 20 5 4+14 4 2 1
10 FW Germany GER Lukas Nmecha 18 4 10+6 4 2 0
18 FW Germany GER Dženan Pejčinović 1 0 0+1 0 0 0
23 FW Denmark DEN Jonas Wind 26 6 15+9 6 1+1 0
33 FW Egypt EGY Omar Marmoush 36 6 15+18 5 2+1 1
Players transferred out during the season
8 MF Belgium BEL Aster Vranckx 1 0 0+1 0 0 0
9 FW Germany GER Max Kruse 5 0 2+3 0 0 0
11 MF Switzerland SUI Renato Steffen 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 MF Croatia CRO Josip Brekalo 7 0 3+3 0 0+1 0
15 DF France FRA Jérôme Roussillon 4 0 0+4 0 0 0
17 FW Germany GER Maximilian Philipp 3 0 1+2 0 0 0
21 FW Poland POL Bartosz Białek 0 0 0 0 0 0
34 DF Croatia CRO Marin Pongračić 0 0 0 0 0 0
45 GK Germany GER Lino Kasten 0 0 0 0 0 0

Last updated: 27 May 2023
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers[edit]

As of 25 February 2023
Rank No. Pos. Nat. Player Bundesliga DFB-Pokal Total
1 31 MF Germany Yannick Gerhardt 6 0 6
2 20 MF Germany Ridle Baku 5 0 5
27 MF Germany Maximilian Arnold 5 0 5
33 FW Egypt Omar Marmoush 4 1 5
5 10 FW Germany Lukas Nmecha 4 0 4
23 FW Denmark Jonas Wind 4 0 4
7 32 MF Sweden Mattias Svanberg 2 1 3
8 7 FW Germany Luca Waldschmidt 1 1 2
16 MF Poland Jakub Ka