2008–09 VfL Wolfsburg season

VfL Wolfsburg

2008–09 season
Manager	Felix Magath
Bundesliga	1st
DFB-Pokal	Quarter-finals
UEFA Cup	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Grafite (28) All: Edin Džeko (36)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

VfL Wolfsburg won their first ever Bundesliga title during this season. Manager Felix Magath formed an attacking lineup, which included strikers Edin Džeko and Grafite, the pair scoring 54 goals between them, much due to the help of attacking midfielder Zvjezdan Misimović's 20 assists.

First-team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Diego Benaglio 2 DF Cristian Zaccardo 3 DF Rodrigo Alvim 4 DF Marcel Schäfer 5 DF Ricardo Costa 6 DF Jan Šimůnek 7 MF Josué (c) 8 FW Yoshito Ōkubo 9 FW Edin Džeko 10 MF Zvjezdan Misimović 11 FW Caiuby 12 GK André Lenz 13 MF Makoto Hasebe

No. Position Player 14 MF Jonathan Santana 16 FW Mahir Sağlık 17 DF Alexander Madlung 18 MF Jacek Krzynówek 19 DF Peter Pekarík 20 DF Sascha Riether 23 FW Grafite 24 MF Ashkan Dejagah 25 MF Christian Gentner 32 MF Sebastian Schindzielorz 33 DF Daniel Reiche 37 DF Sergei Karimov 43 DF Andrea Barzagli

Competitions

Bundesliga

Main article: 2008–09 Bundesliga

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	VfL Wolfsburg (C)	34	21	6	7	80	41	+39	69	2009–10 UEFA Champions League group stage
2	Bayern Munich	34	20	7	7	71	42	+29	67
3	VfB Stuttgart	34	19	7	8	63	43	+20	64	2009–10 UEFA Champions League play-off round
4	Hertha BSC	34	19	6	9	48	41	+7	63	2009–10 UEFA Europa League play-off round
5	Hamburger SV	34	19	4	11	49	47	+2	61	2009–10 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round
6	Borussia Dortmund	34	15	14	5	60	37	+23	59
7	1899 Hoffenheim	34	15	10	9	63	49	+14	55
8	Schalke 04	34	14	8	12	47	35	+12	50
9	Bayer Leverkusen	34	14	7	13	59	46	+13	49
10	Werder Bremen	34	12	9	13	64	50	+14	45	2009–10 UEFA Europa League play-off round
11	Hannover 96	34	10	10	14	49	69	−20	40
12	1. FC Köln	34	11	6	17	35	50	−15	39
13	Eintracht Frankfurt	34	8	9	17	39	60	−21	33
14	VfL Bochum	34	7	11	16	39	55	−16	32
15	Borussia Mönchengladbach	34	8	7	19	39	62	−23	31
16	Energie Cottbus (R)	34	8	6	20	30	57	−27	30	Bundesliga relegation playoff
17	Karlsruher SC (R)	34	8	5	21	30	54	−24	29	Relegation to 2009–10 2. Bundesliga
18	Arminia Bielefeld (R)	34	4	16	14	29	56	−27	28

Source: kicker (German)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Werder Bremen qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League by winning the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Matches

Wolfsburg v Köln

16 August 2008 1	Wolfsburg	2–1	Köln	Wolfsburg
	Gentner  48' Misimović  78'		Novaković  19'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Bochum v Wolfsburg

24 August 2008 2	Bochum	2–2	Wolfsburg	Bochum
	Šesták  12' Dabrowski  50'		Ricardo Costa  55' Sağlık  69'	Stadium: rewirpowerSTADION

Wolfsburg v Eintracht Frankfurt

30 August 2008 3	Wolfsburg	2–2	Eintracht Frankfurt	Wolfsburg
	Grafite  27' (pen.) Dejagah  51'		Amanatidis  22' Toski  84'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Hertha BSC v Wolfsburg

13 September 2008 4	Hertha BSC	2–2	Wolfsburg	Berlin
	Kačar  57' Cícero  85'		Ricardo Costa  1' Riether  90'	Stadium: Olympiastadion

Wolfsburg v Hamburg

21 September 2008 5	Wolfsburg	3–0	Hamburg	Wolfsburg
	Dejagah  15' Madlung  22' Grafite  28'			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Karlsruhe v Wolfsburg

28 September 2008 6	Karlsruhe	2–1	Wolfsburg	Karlsruhe
	Porcello  51' Freis  75'		Ricardo Costa  78'	Stadium: Wildparkstadion

Schalke 04 v Wolfsburg

5 October 2008 7	Schalke 04	2–2	Wolfsburg	Gelsenkirchen
	Kurányi  20', 90'		Džeko  51' Caiuby  66'	Stadium: Veltins-Arena

Wolfsburg v Arminia Bielefeld

18 October 2008 8	Wolfsburg	4–1	Arminia Bielefeld	Wolfsburg
	Misimović  5', 34' Madlung  54' Grafite  64'		Laas  60'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg

25 October 2008 9	Bayern Munich	4–2	Wolfsburg	Munich
	Ribéry  41' van Bommel  54' Borowski  63' Schweinsteiger  80'		Grafite  31' (pen.) Džeko  33'	Stadium: Allianz Arena

Wolfsburg v Borussia Mönchengladbach

28 October 2008 10	Wolfsburg	3–0	Borussia Mönchengladbach	Wolfsburg
	Grafite  40' (pen.) Madlung  55' Misimović  75' (pen.)			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Bayer Leverkusen v Wolfsburg

31 October 2008 11	Bayer Leverkusen	2–0	Wolfsburg	Leverkusen
	Barnetta  57' Kießling  65'			Stadium: BayArena

Wolfsburg v Energie Cottbus

8 November 2008 12	Wolfsburg	3–0	Energie Cottbus	Wolfsburg
	Grafite  36' (pen.), 55', 80'			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Hoffenheim v Wolfsburg

15 November 2008 13	Hoffenheim	3–2	Wolfsburg	Hoffenheim
	Ibišević  22' Carlos Eduardo  37' Obasi  69'		Grafite  27' Džeko  40'	Stadium: Rhein-Neckar Arena

Wolfsburg v Stuttgart

22 November 2008 14	Wolfsburg	4–1	Stuttgart	Wolfsburg
	Grafite  51', 76' Džeko  79', 90+5'		Lanig  17'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Borussia Dortmund v Wolfsburg

30 November 2008 15	Borussia Dortmund	0–0	Wolfsburg	Dortmund
				Stadium: Westfalenstadion

Wolfsburg v Hannover

7 December 2008 16	Wolfsburg	2–1	Hannover	Wolfsburg
	Zaccardo  32' Štajner  62' (o.g.)		Štajner  59'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Werder Bremen v Wolfsburg

13 December 2008 17	Werder Bremen	2–1	Wolfsburg	Bremen
	Mertesacker  27' Josué  63' (o.g.)		Gentner  3'	Stadium: Weserstadion

Köln v Wolfsburg

31 January 2009 18	Köln	1–1	Wolfsburg	Cologne
	Radu  34'		Grafite  73'	Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion

Wolfsburg v Bochum

7 February 2009 19	Wolfsburg	2–0	Bochum	Wolfsburg
	Džeko  21', 85'			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg

14 February 2009 20	Eintracht Frankfurt	0–2	Wolfsburg	Frankfurt
			Džeko  9' Misimović  66' (pen.)	Stadium: Commerzbank-Arena

Wolfsburg v Hertha Berlin

21 February 2009 21	Wolfsburg	2–1	Hertha Berlin	Wolfsburg
	Džeko  71', 84'		Cícero  62'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Hamburg v Wolfsburg

1 March 2009 22	Hamburg	1–3	Wolfsburg	Hamburg
	Guerrero  73'		Grafite  12' (pen.), 25' Džeko  75'	Stadium: HSH Nordbank Arena

Wolfsburg v Karlsruhe

7 March 2009 23	Wolfsburg	1–0	Karlsruhe	Wolfsburg
	Džeko  38'			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Wolfsburg v Schalke 04

13 March 2009 24	Wolfsburg	4–3	Schalke 04	Wolfsburg
	Grafite  25' (pen.), 74', 84' Džeko  44'		Westermann  9' Jones  76' Kurányi  90'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Arminia Bielefeld v Wolfsburg

21 March 2009 25	Arminia Bielefeld	0–3	Wolfsburg	Bielefeld
			Gentner  19' Grafite  58' Dejagah  87'	Stadium: Bielefelder Alm

Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich

4 April 2009 26	Wolfsburg	5–1	Bayern Munich	Wolfsburg
	Gentner  44' Džeko  63', 66' Grafite  74', 77'		Toni  45'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Borussia Mönchengladbach v Wolfsburg

11 April 2009 27	Borussia Mönchengladbach	1–2	Wolfsburg	Mönchengladbach
	Dante  79'		Džeko  20' Riether  85'	Stadium: Borussia-Park

Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen

18 April 2009 28	Wolfsburg	2–1	Bayer Leverkusen	Wolfsburg
	Grafite  23' (pen.), 85'		Kroos  54'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Energie Cottbus v Wolfsburg

26 April 2009 29	Energie Cottbus	2–0	Wolfsburg	Cottbus
	Rangelov  72' Skela  86'			Stadium: Stadion der Freundschaft

Wolfsburg v Hoffenheim

2 May 2009 30	Wolfsburg	4–0	Hoffenheim	Wolfsburg
	Džeko  66', 74', 78' Grafite  89' (pen.)			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Stuttgart v Wolfsburg

9 May 2009 31	Stuttgart	4–1	Wolfsburg	Stuttgart
	Gómez  1', 20', 63', 77'		Džeko  36'	Stadium: Mercedes-Benz Arena

Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund

12 May 2009 32	Wolfsburg	3–0	Borussia Dortmund	Wolfsburg
	Džeko  15', 85' Grafite  47'			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

Hannover v Wolfsburg

16 May 2009 33	Hannover	0–5	Wolfsburg	Hanover
			Džeko  14', 54', 79' Grafite  33', 36'	Attendance: AWD-Arena

Wolfsburg v Werder Bremen

23 May 2009 34	Wolfsburg	5–1	Werder Bremen	Wolfsburg
	Misimović  6' Grafite  15', 56' Prödl  26' (o.g.) Džeko  74'		Diego  31'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena

DFB-Pokal

Heidenheim v Wolfsburg

10 August 2008 First round	Heidenheim	0–3	Wolfsburg	Heidenheim
14:30 CEST			Grafite  54' Sağlık  57', 75'	Stadium: Albstadion Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Thomas Metzen (Mechernich)

Oberneuland v Wolfsburg

24 September 2008 Second round	Oberneuland	0–7	Wolfsburg	Bremen
19:00 CEST			Džeko  15', 20', 57', 75' Schäfer  26' Dejagah  67' Caiuby  89'	Stadium: Weserstadion Platz 11 Attendance: 2,196 Referee: Guido Winkmann (Kerken)

Wolfsburg v Hansa Rostock

28 January 2009 Third round	Wolfsburg	5–1	Hansa Rostock	Wolfsburg
20:30 CET	Grafite  58', 86' (pen.), 90' Bülow  66' (o.g.) Gentner  79'		Fillinger  68'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Attendance: 12,500 Referee: Jochen Drees (Münster-Sarmsheim)

Wolfsburg v Werder Bremen

4 March 2009 Quarter-finals	Wolfsburg	2–5	Werder Bremen	Wolfsburg
19:00 CET	Džeko  10', 42'		Diego  3', 55' (pen.) Özil  6' Pizarro  71', 89'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Attendance: 24,115 Referee: Thorsten Kinhöfer (Herne)

UEFA Cup

First round

Wolfsburg v Rapid Bucureşti

18 September 2008 First leg	Wolfsburg	1–0	Rapid Bucureşti	Wolfsburg
19:00 CET	Grafite  47' (pen.)			Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)

Rapid Bucureşti v Wolfsburg

2 October 2008 Second leg	Rapid Bucureşti	1–1	Wolfsburg	Bucharest
16:00 CET	Maftei  70'		Grafite  15'	Stadium: Stadionul Giuleşti-Valentin Stănescu Referee: Paul Allaerts (Belgium)

Group stage

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Wolfsburg	4	3	1	0	13	7	+6	10
Milan	4	2	2	0	8	5	+3	8
Braga	4	2	0	2	7	5	+2	6
Portsmouth	4	1	1	2	7	8	−1	4
Heerenveen	4	0	0	4	3	13	−10	0

Wolfsburg v Heerenveen

6 November 2008 1	Wolfsburg	5–4	Heerenveen	Wolfsburg
19:45 UTC+1	Džeko  34', 61' Grafite  39' Misimović  53' Krzynówek  71'		Väyrynen  31'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Attendance: 15,615 Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

Braga v Wolfsburg

27 November 2008 2	Braga	2–3	Wolfsburg	Braga
21:30 UTC+0	Barzagli  6' (o.g.) Meyong  49'		Džeko  24' Misimović  83' (pen.), 90+4'	Stadium: Estádio AXA Attendance: 7,294 Referee: Anton Genov (Bulgaria)

Wolfsburg v Portsmouth

4 December 2008 3	Wolfsburg	3–2	Portsmouth	Wolfsburg
20:45 UTC+1	Džeko  3' Gentner  23' Misimović  74'		Defoe  11' Mvuemba  14'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Attendance: 21,015 Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

Milan v Wolfsburg

17 December 2008 4	Milan	2–2	Wolfsburg	Milan
20:45 UTC+1	Ambrosini  17' Pato  56'		Zaccardo  56' Sağlık  81'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 5,420 Referee: Mark Courtney (Northern Ireland)

Round of 32

Paris Saint-Germain v Wolfsburg

18 February 2009 First leg	Paris Saint-Germain	2–0	Wolfsburg	Paris
20:45	Hoarau  80', 83'			Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 27,447 Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway)

Wolfsburg v Paris Saint-Germain

26 February 2009 Second leg	Wolfsburg	1–3	Paris Saint-Germain	Wolfsburg
19:00 CET	Hasebe  63'		Luyindula  38' (pen.), 73' Rothen  60'	Stadium: Volkswagen Arena Referee: Vladimír Hriňák (Slovakia)

Statistics

Top scorers

Bundesliga

• Grafite (28)
• Edin Džeko (26)
• Zvjezdan Misimović (7)

DFB-Pokal

• Edin Džeko (6)
• Grafite (4)

Sources

Soccerbase - Wolfsburg Results