VfL Wolfsburg vs. SC Paderborn 07 preview: Relegation duel at Volkswagen Arena

VfL Wolfsburg vs. SC Paderborn 07 preview: Relegation duel at Volkswagen Arena VFL WOLFSBURG The Bundesliga side in the promotion-relegation playoff this year is VfL Wolfsburg (7-8-19, 16th Bundesliga), who have never been relegated from the top tier of German football. This is their second playoff, having faced Niedersachsen rivals Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2016/17 season - winning both matches 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate) on goals from Mario Gómez and Vierinha.

In that 2016/17 campaign, Dieter Hecking coached Die Wölfe for the first two months of the season before being relieved of his duties with a 1-3-3 record early in the campaign. Hecking returned to the club for a second spell this season - coaching the last two months after Paul Simonis and Daniel Bauer were unsuccessful in their durations at the Niedersachsen club. Since taking charge at Volkswagen Arena on a temporary contract that expires in June, Hecking is 2-3-4 through nine matches - with respectable performances against the likes of FC Bayern München (0-1), SC Freiburg (1-1), and Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2), plus a pair of victories against 1.

FC Union Berlin (2-1) and FC St. Pauli (3-1). The latter victory, which happened this past Saturday, allowed Hecking to complete his first objective, to avoid direct relegation to the second tier of German football.

Despite performances in recent weeks that have been progressively getting better, as some of the players echoed in their post-match interviews following the victory in Hamburg, Wolfsburg have failed to score in three of their four home matches - with the most recent goal to the hosts at Volkswagen Arena having come off the boot of Dženan Pejčinović in the final minutes of the 1-2 defeat to Frankfurt on 11. April. A matchup with Paderborn in the playoff brings Hecking’s side a lot of hope, though.