# 2021–22 VfL Wolfsburg season

The 2021–22 season was the 77th season in the existence of VfL Wolfsburg and the club's 25th 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 and the UEFA Champions League, after finishing fourth in the previous Bundesliga season.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 30 January 2022
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BEL | Koen Casteels (captain) |
| 2 | DF | BRA | William |
| 3 | DF | BEL | Sebastiaan Bornauw |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Maxence Lacroix |
| 5 | DF | NED | Micky van de Ven |
| 6 | DF | BRA | Paulo Otávio |
| 7 | FW | GER | Luca Waldschmidt |
| 8 | MF | BEL | Aster Vranckx |
| 9 | FW | GER | Max Kruse |
| 10 | FW | GER | Lukas Nmecha |
| 11 | MF | SUI | Renato Steffen |
| 12 | GK | AUT | Pavao Pervan |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Jérôme Roussillon |
| 17 | FW | GER | Maximilian Philipp |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | DF | IRL | Anselmo García McNulty |
| 19 | DF | SUI | Kevin Mbabu |
| 20 | MF | GER | Ridle Baku |
| 21 | FW | POL | Bartosz Białek |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Felix Nmecha |
| 23 | FW | DEN | Jonas Wind |
| 24 | MF | AUT | Xaver Schlager |
| 25 | DF | USA | John Brooks |
| 27 | MF | GER | Maximilian Arnold (vice-captain) |
| 28 | FW | BEL | Dodi Lukebakio (on loan from Hertha BSC) |
| 30 | GK | GER | Niklas Klinger |
| 31 | MF | GER | Yannick Gerhardt |
| 35 | GK | GER | Philipp Schulze |
| 40 | DF | USA | Kevin Paredes |

### Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | KOR | Hong Yun-sang (on loan at SKN St. Pölten until 29 June 2022) |
| — | MF | USA | Bryang Kayo (on loan at Nürnberg II until 30 June 2022) |
| 7 | MF | CRO | Josip Brekalo (on loan at Torino until 30 June 2022) |
| 23 | MF | FRA | Josuha Guilavogui (on loan at Bordeaux until 30 June 2022) |
| 26 | FW | USA | Ulysses Llanez (on loan at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2022) |
| 29 | FW | EGY | Omar Marmoush (on loan at VfB Stuttgart until 30 June 2022) |
| 34 | DF | CRO | Marin Pongračić (on loan at Borussia Dortmund until 30 June 2022) |
| 35 | GK | GER | Lino Kasten (on loan at SKN St. Pölten until 30 June 2022) |
| 37 | MF | GER | Elvis Rexhbeçaj (on loan at VfL Bochum until 30 June 2022) |
| 39 | DF | GER | Tim Siersleben (on loan at 1. FC Heidenheim until 30 June 2023) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| 8 | MF | Aster Vranckx | Mechelen | €8,000,000 | 1 July 2021 |
| 17 | FW | Maximilian Philipp | Dynamo Moscow | €7,500,000 | 1 July 2021 |
| 3 | DF | Sebastiaan Bornauw | 1. FC Köln | €13,500,000 | 16 July 2021 |
| 10 | FW | Lukas Nmecha | Manchester City | €8,000,000 | 16 July 2021 |
| 22 | MF | Felix Nmecha | Free transfer | Free transfer | 21 July 2021 |
| 7 | FW | Luca Waldschmidt | Benfica | €12,000,000 | 22 August 2021 |
| 28 | FW | Dodi Lukebakio | Hertha BSC | Loan | 30 August 2021 |
| 5 | DF | Micky van de Ven | Volendam | €3,500,000 | 31 August 2021 |
| 40 | DF | Kevin Paredes | D.C. United | €6,300,000 | 28 January 2022 |
| 9 | FW | Max Kruse | Union Berlin | €5,000,000 | 30 January 2022 |
| 23 | FW | Jonas Wind | Copenhagen | €12,000,000 | 31 January 2022 |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| 5 | DF | Jeffrey Bruma | Free transfer | Free transfer | 1 July 2021 |
| 11 | MF | Felix Klaus | Fortuna Düsseldorf | €1,100,000 | 1 July 2021 |
| 39 | DF | Tim Siersleben | 1. FC Heidenheim | Loan | 1 July 2021 |
| | FW | Yun-sang Hong | SKN St. Pölten | Loan | 9 July 2021 |
| 26 | FW | Ulysses Llanez | SKN St. Pölten | Loan | 9 July 2021 |
| 35 | GK | Lino Kasten | SKN St. Pölten | Loan | 9 July 2021 |
| | MF | Bryang Kayo | Viktoria Berlin | Loan | 30 July 2021 |
| 37 | MF | Elvis Rexhbeçaj | VfL Bochum | Loan | 2 August 2021 |
| 40 | MF | João Victor | Al Jazira | Undisclosed | 17 August 2021 |
| 29 | FW | Omar Marmoush | VfB Stuttgart | Loan | 30 August 2021 |
| 42 | MF | Dominik Marx | Free transfer | Free transfer | 30 August 2021 |
| 43 | DF | Marcel Beifus | FC St. Pauli | €100,000 | 30 August 2021 |
| 7 | MF | Josip Brekalo | Torino | Loan | 31 August 2021 |
| 34 | DF | Marin Pongračić | Borussia Dortmund | Loan | 31 August 2021 |
| 41 | MF | Kobe Hernandez-Foster | Mutual contract termination | Mutual contract termination | 1 September 2021 |
| 38 | DF | Jannis Lang | Erzgebirge Aue | Undisclosed | 13 January 2022 |
| 14 | MF | Admir Mehmedi | Antalyaspor | Undisclosed | 16 January 2022 |
| 44 | MF | Marvin Stefaniak | Würzburger Kickers | Mutual contract termination | 17 January 2022 |
| 33 | FW | Daniel Ginczek | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Undisclosed | 29 January 2022 |
| 23 | MF | Joshua Guilavogui | Bordeaux | Loan | 30 January 2022 |
| 9 | FW | Wout Weghorst | Burnley | €14,000,000 | 31 January 2022 |
| | MF | Bryang Kayo | Nürnberg II | Loan | 31 January 2022 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Bundesliga | 14 August 2021 | 14 May 2022 | Matchday 1 | 12th | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 54 | −11 | 035.29 |
| DFB-Pokal | 8 August 2021 | 8 August 2021 | First round | First round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 000.00 |
| UEFA Champions League | 14 September 2021 | 8 December 2021 | Group stage | Group stage | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 016.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 41 | 13 | 8 | 20 | 48 | 66 | −18 | 031.71 |
Source: Soccerway

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 10 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 54 | 61 | −7 | 45 | |
| 11 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 42 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 12 | VfL Wolfsburg | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 54 | −11 | 42 | |
| 13 | VfL Bochum | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 42 | |
| 14 | FC Augsburg | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 38 | |
* ↑ Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League group stage by winning the UEFA Europa League.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: DFB

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | W | W | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | W | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | W | L | W | D | W | D |
| Position | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 25 June 2021.

### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 August 2021.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LIL | SAL | SEV | WOL |
| 1 | Lille | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| 2 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Sevilla | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 6 | Transfer to Europa League | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | VfL Wolfsburg | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | −5 | 5 | | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | BEL | Koen Casteels | 34 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | AUT | Pavao Pervan | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | GER | Niklas Klinger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | GK | GER | Philipp Schulze | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | BRA | William | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BEL | Sebastiaan Bornauw | 31 | 1 | 23+4 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Maxence Lacroix | 36 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | NED | Micky van de Ven | 5 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | BRA | Paulo Otávio | 11 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Jérôme Roussillon | 33 | 1 | 18+8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | IRL | Anselmo García McNulty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | SUI | Kevin Mbabu | 31 | 0 | 14+10 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | USA | John Brooks | 36 | 1 | 29+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | USA | Kevin Paredes | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 8 | MF | BEL | Aster Vranckx | 28 | 2 | 12+12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | SUI | Renato Steffen | 26 | 2 | 13+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 2 |
| 20 | MF | GER | Ridle Baku | 40 | 5 | 27+6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5+1 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Felix Nmecha | 18 | 0 | 1+15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | AUT | Xaver Schlager | 15 | 0 | 13+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | GER | Maximilian Arnold | 41 | 4 | 34 | 4 | 0+1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | GER | Yannick Gerhardt | 33 | 1 | 17+10 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | GER | Luca Waldschmidt | 17 | 1 | 9+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | GER | Max Kruse | 14 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | GER | Lukas Nmecha | 31 | 10 | 18+7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 2 |
| 17 | FW | GER | Maximilian Philipp | 25 | 1 | 12+10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | POL | Bartosz Białek | 12 | 0 | 1+11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | DEN | Jonas Wind | 14 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | BEL | Dodi Lukebakio | 25 | 1 | 7+12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 7 | MF | CRO | Josip Brekalo | 2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | NED | Wout Weghorst | 24 | 7 | 17+1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | SUI | Admir Mehmedi | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | FRA | Josuha Guilavogui | 21 | 0 | 9+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | EGY | Omar Marmoush | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | GER | Daniel Ginczek | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
Last updated: 14 May 2022 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

    As of 14 May 2022
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | Champions League | Total |
| 1 | 10 | FW | | Lukas Nmecha | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 9 | FW | | Max Kruse | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | 9 | FW | | Wout Weghorst | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | 20 | MF | | Ridle Baku | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | 23 | FW | | Jonas Wind | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | 27 | MF | | Maximilian Arnold | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 8 | MF | | Aster Vranckx | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 11 | MF | | Renato Steffen | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | 3 | DF | | Sebastiaan Bornauw | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 7 | MF | | Josip Brekalo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 7 | FW | | Luca Waldschmidt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 15 | DF | | Jérôme Roussillon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 17 | FW | | Maximilian Philipp | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 25 | DF | | John Brooks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 28 | FW | | Dodi Lukebakio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 31 | MF | | Yannick Gerhardt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 43 | 3 | 5 | 51 |