By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit:@VfLWolfsburg_EN.
VfL Wolfsburg will take on SC Paderborn 07 in the Bundesliga relegation play-off as the two sides fight it out for a place amongst the German elite in 2026-27.
After a disappointing campaign, Wolfsburg rallied towards the end of the season to move out of the top flight’s bottom two and ultimately avoid an automatic drop down in division courtesy of a 3-1 victory at fellow relegation contenders FC St. Pauli on Matchday 34. That result saw 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and Die Kiezkicker finish 17th and 18th respectively to go down, while the Wolves live to fight another day.
It is the third time in 10 years that Wolfsburg, who have never been relegated from the Bundesliga, will contest the play-off, having previously defeated Eintracht Braunschweig 2-0 on aggregate in 2016/17 before beating Holstein Kiel 4-1 across two legs the follow ing campaign.
Paderborn, meanwhile, secured third place in Bundesliga 2 on the final day of the season, taking advantage of Hannover 96’s draw with 1. FC Nürnberg by winning 2-0 at SV Darm stadt 98. It was a timely victory, bringing an end to their four-game winless run, as they look to follow FC Schalke 04 and SV Elversberg up to the big time.
SCP are aiming to reach the Bundesliga for the third time in their history, having featured in the 2014/15 and 2019/20 terms. On both occasions, they spent just one year in the top tier before falling back through the trap door.
Speaking following Paderborn’s Matchday 34 triumph, Wolfsburg head coach Dieter Heck ing was wary of the threat his side’s upcoming opponents pose. “Winning this game today shows Paderborn’s quality; they will demand everything from us. We mustn’t let up one bit,” said the 61-year-old, who returned for a second spell in charge at the Volkswagen Arena in March, tasked with keeping the Wolves up.
Paderborn counterpart Ralf Kettemann, meanwhile, added, Let’s be honest: if you asked a million Germans who would win these two games, probably 999,900 “would say Wolfs burg. So we are definitely the underdog, and that can sometimes help.”
The first leg in Wolfsburg is on Thursday, 21 May (8.30pm CEST). The decisive return fix ture in Paderborn is at the same time the following Monday, 25 May.
On Friday, 22 May, SpVgg Greuther Fürth will travel to Rot-Weiss Essen for the first leg of their Bundesliga 2 relegation play-off. Despite beating Fortuna Düsseldorf 3-0 on Match day 34 of the Bundesliga 2 season to leapfrog and relegate Die Flingeraner, it was not enough to avoid finishing 16th.
Essen missed out on automatic promotion from the 3. Liga on the final day, even though they registered a 3-2 win at SSV Ulm 1846, ultimately finishing behind VfL Osnabrück and Energie Cottbus. Should they get the better of Fürth, they will reach Bundesliga 2 for the first time in 20 years. The second leg at Greuther’s Sportpark Ronhof is on Tuesday, 26 May to conclude the domestic season in Germany.