# 2016–17 VfL Wolfsburg season

The 2016–17 VfL Wolfsburg season was the 72nd season in the club's football history.

## Background

VfL Wolfsburg finished the 2015–16 Bundesliga season in 8th place, thus ensuring a place in the 2016–17 Bundesliga.

## Players
### Squad

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 | SUI | Diego Benaglio (captain) |
| 2 | DF | GER | Philipp Wollscheid (on loan from Stoke City) |
| 5 | DF | NED | Jeffrey Bruma |
| 6 | MF | NED | Riechedly Bazoer |
| 8 | MF | POR | Vieirinha |
| 9 | MF | FRA | Paul-Georges Ntep |
| 10 | MF | TUR | Yunus Mallı |
| 11 | MF | GER | Daniel Didavi |
| 13 | MF | GER | Yannick Gerhardt |
| 14 | MF | POL | Jakub Błaszczykowski (3rd captain) |
| 15 | DF | GER | Christian Träsch |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Borja Mayoral (on loan from Real Madrid) |
| 18 | FW | NGA | Victor Osimhen |
| 20 | GK | GER | Max Grün |
| 21 | DF | GER | Jannes Horn |
| 22 | MF | BRA | Luiz Gustavo (vice-captain) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | MF | FRA | Josuha Guilavogui |
| 24 | DF | GER | Sebastian Jung |
| 25 | MF | IRN | Ashkan Dejagah |
| 26 | MF | GER | Justin Möbius |
| 27 | MF | GER | Maximilian Arnold |
| 28 | GK | BEL | Koen Casteels |
| 29 | MF | GER | Amara Condé |
| 30 | MF | GER | Paul Seguin |
| 31 | DF | GER | Robin Knoche |
| 33 | FW | GER | Mario Gómez |
| 34 | DF | SUI | Ricardo Rodríguez |
| 35 | DF | GER | Gian-Luca Itter |
| 36 | GK | GER | Phillip Menzel |
| 38 | MF | BEL | Ismail Azzaoui |
| 40 | DF | GER | Robin Ziegele |
| 41 | DF | GER | Hendrik Hansen |

### Transfers
#### In

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving from | Type | Transfer Window | Contract ends | Transfer fee |
| 2 | Defender | Philipp Wollscheid | 27 | Yes | Stoke City | Loan | Summer | 30 June 2017 | — |
| 5 | Defender | Jeffrey Bruma | 24 | Yes | PSV Eindhoven | Transfer | Summer | 30 June 2021 | €11,500,000 |
| 11 | Midfielder | Daniel Didavi | 26 | Yes | VfB Stuttgart | Transfer | Summer | 30 June 2021 | Free |
| 13 | Midfielder | Yannick Gerhardt | 22 | Yes | 1. FC Köln | Transfer | Summer | 30 June 2021 | €13,000,000 |
| 14 | Midfielder | Jakub Błaszczykowski | 30 | Yes | Borussia Dortmund | Transfer | Summer | 30 June 2019 | €5,000,000 |
| 17 | Forward | Borja Mayoral | 19 | Yes | Real Madrid | Loan | Summer | 30 June 2017 | — |
| 23 | Midfielder | Josuha Guilavogui | 25 | Yes | Atlético Madrid | Buy option exercised | Summer | 30 June 2019 | €3,000,000 |
| 25 | Forward | Josip Brekalo | 18 | Yes | Dinamo Zagreb | Transfer | Summer | 30 June 2021 | €6,000,000 |
| 29 | Midfielder | Amara Condé | 19 | Yes | VfL Wolfsburg U19 | Academy | Summer | 30 June 2018 | Free |
| 33 | Forward | Mario Gómez | 31 | Yes | Fiorentina | Transfer | Summer | 30 June 2019 | €7,000,000 |
| 39 | Forward | Oskar Zawada | 20 | Yes | Twente | Return from loan | Summer | 30 June 2018 | |
| 40 | Defender | Robin Ziegele | 19 | Yes | VfL Wolfsburg U19 | Academy | Summer | 30 June 2018 | Free |
| — | Midfielder | Francisco Rodríguez | 20 | Yes | Arminia Bielefeld | Return from loan | Summer | 30 June 2018 | — |
| 6 | Midfielder | Riechedly Bazoer | 20 | Yes | Ajax | Transfer | Winter | 30 June 2021 | €12,000,000 |
| 9 | Forward | Paul-Georges Ntep | 24 | Yes | Rennes | Transfer | Winter | 30 June 2021 | €5,000,000 |
| 10 | Midfielder | Yunus Mallı | 24 | Yes | Mainz 05 | Transfer | Winter | 30 June 2021 | €12,500,000 |
| 18 | Forward | Victor Osimhen | 18 | No | Ultimate Strikers Academy | Transfer | Winter | 30 June 2020 | €3,500,000 |
| 25 | Midfielder | Ashkan Dejagah | 30 | Yes | Al-Arabi | Transfer | Winter | 30 June 2017 | Free |

#### Out

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | EU | Moving to | Type | Transfer Window | Transfer fee |
| 3 | Forward | Nicklas Bendtner | 28 | Yes | — | Release | Summer | — |
| 11 | Forward | Max Kruse | 28 | Yes | Werder Bremen | Transfer | Summer | €7,500,000 |
| 12 | Forward | Bas Dost | 27 | Yes | Sporting CP | Transfer | Summer | €10,000,000 |
| 17 | Midfielder | André Schürrle | 25 | Yes | Borussia Dortmund | Transfer | Summer | €30,000,000 |
| 18 | Defender | Dante | 32 | No | Nice | Transfer | Summer | €2,500,000 |
| 25 | Defender | Naldo | 33 | No | Schalke 04 | Transfer | Summer | Free |
| 26 | Defender | Felipe | 27 | No | Chaves | Transfer | Summer | Free |
| 32 | Forward | Leandro Putaro | 19 | Yes | Arminia Bielefeld | Loan | Summer | — |
| 37 | Defender | Moritz Sprenger | 21 | Yes | 1. FC Magdeburg | Loan | Summer | — |
| — | Goalkeeper | Patrick Drewes | 23 | Yes | Preußen Münster | Loan | Summer | — |
| — | Midfielder | Francisco Rodríguez | 20 | Yes | Luzern | Loan | Summer | — |
| 6 | Defender | Carlos Ascues | 24 | No | FBC Melgar | Loan | Winter | — |
| 7 | Midfielder | Daniel Caligiuri | 29 | Yes | Schalke 04 | Transfer | Winter | €2,500,000 |
| 10 | Midfielder | Julian Draxler | 23 | Yes | Paris Saint-Germain | Transfer | Winter | €40,000,000 |
| 16 | Forward | Bruno Henrique | 26 | No | Santos | Transfer | Winter | €4,000,000 |
| 25 | Forward | Josip Brekalo | 18 | Yes | VfB Stuttgart | Loan | Winter | — |
| 35 | Forward | Anton Donkor | 19 | Yes | Everton U23 | Loan | Winter | — |

## Friendly matches

Win  Draw  Loss

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### Overview

| 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 | 27 August 2016 | 20 May 2017 | Matchday 1 | 16th | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 029.41 |
| Bundesliga relegation play-offs | 25 May 2017 | 29 May 2017 | First leg | Winners | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| DFB-Pokal | 20 August 2016 | 7 February 2017 | First round | Round of 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 066.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 39 | 14 | 7 | 18 | 39 | 54 | −15 | 035.90 |
Last updated: 27 May 2017 Source: Competitions

### Bundesliga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 14 | Hamburger SV | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 33 | 61 | −28 | 38 | |
| 15 | Mainz 05 | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 44 | 55 | −11 | 37 | |
| 16 | VfL Wolfsburg (O) | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 37 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 17 | FC Ingolstadt (R) | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 36 | 57 | −21 | 32 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |
| 18 | Darmstadt 98 (R) | 34 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 28 | 63 | −35 | 25 | Relegation to 2. Bundesliga |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 27 May 2017. Source: Bundesliga

#### 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 | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | D | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | D | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | W | W | D | L | L | W | L | L | W | D | L |
| Position | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 16 |

#### Relegation play-offs
### DFB-Pokal
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | Play-offs | Play-offs |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | SUI | Diego Benaglio | 15 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | GK | GER | Max Grün | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | BEL | Koen Casteels | 24 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 36 | GK | GER | Phillip Menzel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | GER | Philipp Wollscheid | 9 | 0 | 6+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | GER | Marcel Schäfer | 5 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | NED | Jeffrey Bruma | 22 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | GER | Christian Träsch | 14 | 0 | 7+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | GER | Jannes Horn | 13 | 0 | 10+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | GER | Sebastian Jung | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | GER | Robin Knoche | 27 | 1 | 21+2 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | SUI | Ricardo Rodríguez | 26 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | GER | Robin Ziegele | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | GER | Hendrik Hansen | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | NED | Riechedly Bazoer | 13 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | POR | Vieirinha | 25 | 1 | 13+8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | TUR | Yunus Mallı | 19 | 1 | 13+3 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | GER | Daniel Didavi | 22 | 4 | 11+7 | 4 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | GER | Yannick Gerhardt | 32 | 0 | 25+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | POL | Jakub Błaszczykowski | 30 | 0 | 20+8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | BRA | Luiz Gustavo | 32 | 0 | 26+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | FRA | Josuha Guilavogui | 21 | 0 | 17+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | IRN | Ashkan Dejagah | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | GER | Justin Möbius | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | GER | Maximilian Arnold | 36 | 2 | 28+4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 29 | MF | GER | Amara Condé | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | GER | Paul Seguin | 24 | 1 | 15+7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | MF | BEL | Ismail Azzaoui | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | FRA | Paul-Georges Ntep | 12 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | ESP | Borja Mayoral | 21 | 2 | 3+16 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | NGA | Victor Osimhen | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | GER | Mario Gómez | 37 | 18 | 32+1 | 16 | 1+1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Players transferred out during the season ||||||||||||
| 6 | DF | PER | Carlos Ascues | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ITA | Daniel Caligiuri | 16 | 2 | 12+2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | GER | Julian Draxler | 14 | 0 | 12+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | NED | Bas Dost | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | BRA | Bruno Henrique | 7 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | CRO | Josip Brekalo | 4 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | GER | Anton Donkor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Last updated: 29 May 2017 Source: Competitions

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | Play-offs | Total |
| 1 | 33 | FW | | Mario Gómez | 16 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 2 | 11 | MF | | Daniel Didavi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 7 | MF | | Daniel Caligiuri | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | 17 | FW | | Borja Mayoral | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | 27 | MF | | Maximilian Arnold | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | 34 | DF | | Ricardo Rodríguez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | DF | | Jeffrey Bruma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 8 | MF | | Vieirinha | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | 10 | MF | | Yunus Mallı | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 12 | FW | | Bas Dost | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 30 | MF | | Paul Seguin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | 31 | DF | | Robin Knoche | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 34 | 3 | 2 | 39 |
Last updated: 29 May 2017

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | Play-offs | Total |
| 1 | 28 | GK | | Koen Casteels | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | GK | | Diego Benaglio | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
Last updated: 29 May 2017

### Disciplinary record

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | DFB-Pokal | Play-offs | Play-offs | Play-offs | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | | Diego Benaglio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | | Marcel Schäfer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | | Jeffrey Bruma | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | | Riechedly Bazoer | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | | Daniel Caligiuri | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | | Vieirinha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | | Yunus Mallı | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | | Daniel Didavi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | | Yannick Gerhardt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | | Jakub Błaszczykowski | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | | Borja Mayoral | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | | Jannes Horn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | | Luiz Gustavo | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | | Josuha Guilavogui | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | | Josip Brekalo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | | Maximilian Arnold | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | | Koen Casteels | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | | Paul Seguin | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | | Robin Knoche | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | | Mario Gómez | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | | Ricardo Rodríguez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 64 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 2 | 1 |
Last updated: 29 May 2017