VfL Wolfsburg in European football

VfL Wolfsburg is a German association football club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club was founded in 1945, as VSK Wolfsburg, growing out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. Men's professional football is run by the spin-off organization VfL Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. VfL Wolfsburg plays its home matches at the Volkswagen Arena.

VfL Wolfsburg in European football
ClubVfL Wolfsburg
Seasons played8
First entry1999–2000 UEFA Cup
Latest entry2021–22 UEFA Champions League
Titles
Champions League0
Europa League0
Cup Winners' Cup0
Intertoto Cup0
Super Cup0

History edit

Having finished as sixth place in 1999 in the German top flight, Wolfsburg gained entry to continental football for the first time, specifically the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, where they fell in the third round against Atlético Madrid. They also qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005, enjoying their best run in 2003 after reaching the final in which they lost to Italian side Perugia.[1]

In the 2008–09 season, Wolfsburg won their maiden Bundesliga title, thus qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. They came third in their group, behind Manchester United and CSKA Moscow, losing the chance for a place in the competition's successive round. As a result, they qualified for the Round of 32 phase of the UEFA Europa League. They defeated Spanish side Villarreal 6–3 on aggregate and Russian champions Rubin Kazan 3–2. In the quarter-finals, however, they were beaten 3–1 by eventual finalists Fulham.[2]

Their best performance in Europe was during the 2015–16 season, when they reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League after passing through a group with Manchester United, CSKA Moscow and PSV Eindhoven, and beating Gent in the round of 32. They faced Spanish giants Real Madrid, winning the first leg on Volkswagen Arena 2–0, only to lose the return leg in Santiago Bernabéu 0–3.[3]

Matches edit

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate
1999–2000 UEFA Cup First round   Debrecen 2–0 1–2 3–2
Second round   Roda 1–0 0–0 1–0
Third round   Atlético Madrid 2–3 1–2 3–5
2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round   Sedan 2–1 0–0 2–1
Semi-finals   Auxerre 1–2 (a.e.t.) 1–1 2–3
2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round   Dinamo Minsk 4–3 0–0 4–3
Semi-finals   Troyes 2–2 0–1 2–3
2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round   Marek Dupnitsa 2–0 1–1 3–1
Third round   Slovácko 2–0 1–0 3–0
Semi-finals   Cibalia 4–0 4–1 8–1
Finals   Perugia 0–2 0–1 0–3
2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round   Thun 2–3 1–4 3–7
2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round   Graz 2–2 3–1 5–3
Third round   Göteborg 2–0 2–0 4–0
Semi-finals   Lens 0–0 0–4 0–4
2008–09 UEFA Cup First round   Rapid București 1–0 1–1 2-1
Group E   Milan 2–2 1st
  Braga 3-2
  Portsmouth 3–2
  Heerenveen 5–1
Round of 32   Paris Saint-Germain 1–3 0–2 1–5
2009–10 UEFA Champions League Group B   Manchester United 1–3 1–2 3rd
  CSKA Moscow 3–1 1–2
  Beşiktaş 0–0 3–0
UEFA Europa League Round of 32   Villarreal 4–1 2–2 6–3
Round of 16   Rubin Kazan 2–1 (a.e.t.) 1–1 3–2
Quarter-finals   Fulham 0–1 1–2 1–3
2014–15 UEFA Europa League Group H   Everton 0–2 1–4 2nd
  Lille 1–1 3–0
  Krasnodar 5–1 4–2
Round of 32   Sporting CP 2–0 0–0 2–0
Round of 16   Inter Milan 3–1 2–1 5–2
Quarter-finals   Napoli 1–4 2–2 3–5
2015–16 UEFA Champions League Group B   Manchester United 3–2 1–2 1st
  PSV Eindhoven 2–0 0–2
  CSKA Moscow 1–0 2–0
Round of 16   Gent 1–0 3–2 4–2
Quarter-finals   Real Madrid 2–0 0–3 2–3
2019–20 UEFA Europa League Group I   Gent 1–3 2–2 2nd
  Saint-Étienne 1–0 1–1
  Oleksandriya 3–1 1–0
Round of 32   Malmö FF 2–1 3–0 5–1
Round of 16   Shakhtar Donetsk 1–2 0–3 1–5
2020–21 UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round   Kukësi 4–0
Third qualifying round   Desna Chernihiv 2–0
Play-off round   AEK Athens 1–2
2021–22 UEFA Champions League Group G   Lille 1–3 0–0 4th
  Sevilla 1–1 0–2
  Red Bull Salzburg 2–1 1–3

Overall record edit

By competition edit

Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD Win%
UEFA Champions League 22 10 3 9 29 29 +0 045.45
UEFA Cup / Europa League 45 21 10 14 79 61 +18 046.67
UEFA Intertoto Cup 24 10 7 7 36 29 +7 041.67
Total 91 41 20 30 144 119 +25 045.05

By club edit

By country edit

As of 1 October 2020
Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference
  Albania 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4
  Austria 2 1 1 0 5 3 +2
  Belarus 2 1 1 0 4 3 +1
  Belgium 4 2 1 1 7 7 0
  Greece 1 0 0 1 1 2 –2
  Bulgaria 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2
  Croatia 2 2 0 0 8 1 +7
  Czech Republic 2 2 0 0 3 0 +3
  England 9 2 0 7 11 20 −9
  France 14 3 6 5 13 18 −5
  Hungary 2 1 0 1 3 2 +1
  Italy 7 2 2 3 10 13 -3
  Netherlands 5 3 1 1 8 3 +5
  Portugal 3 2 1 0 5 2 +3
  Romania 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
  Russia 8 6 1 1 19 8 +11
  Spain 6 2 1 3 11 11 0
   Switzerland 2 0 0 2 3 7 -4
  Sweden 4 4 0 0 9 1 +8
  Turkey 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3
  Ukraine 5 3 0 2 7 6 +1

References edit

  1. ^ "Wolfsburg 0-2 Perugia / Intertoto Cup 2003 - Footballdatabase". Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Fulham dump Wolfsburg out of Europe; Torres books Atletico return". CNN. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Real Madrid 3-0 Wolfsburg: Champions League quarter-final second leg. As it happened". The Guardian. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2019.

External links edit