Besio at the double as Wolfsburg defeat Telstar in preseason friendly | OneFootball

Ahead of their first 2. Bundesliga campaign in three decades, VfL Wolfsburg took to the training grounds at the Volkswagen Arena complex on a hot, thirty-degree Friday afternoon to take on Dutch side SC Telstar - who finished fourteenth in Eredivisie in the 2025 / 26 season.

As VfL Wolfsburg are in the process of a rebuild to hopefully return to the top tier of German football in 2027 / 28, seven of the eleven starters of this match were signings from the summer transfer window. Brazilian centre-back Vinícius Souza, French centre-back Mathys Angély, French right-back Saël Kumbedi, and Danish wing-back Joakim Mæhle are the only returning players in the starting eleven from the 2025 / 26 season; in Angély’s case, he returned from a short-term loan at Belgian side RSC Anderlecht, which finished fourth in the Jupiler Pro League.

Five minutes in, a corner whipped far-post by Elvis Rexhbecaj nearly reached Vinícius Souza, but neither he or Hauke Wahl could reach the ball in time as Ronald Koeman Jr. met the ball with both hands.

Two minutes later, following a long goal kick from Koeman, Rexhbecaj hoofed the ball back into the Telstar half. Alessio Besio, on the left side of the Dutch third, knocked the long ball down with a header, into the path of Robert Glatzel - whose ensuing left-footed shot was powered past a diving Koeman and into the bottom-left corner to put Wolfsburg in front.

Telstar would attempt to counter with one of their own in the tenth minute. Tyrone Owusu entered the left side of the Wolfsburg half, darting past Saël Kumbedi before playing the ball to Abdelnour Soualhia at the edge of the box. The 25-year-old centre-back would cross the ball into the goal area, but before Rui Mendes could reach it, Mathys Angély got into the space first and met it with a perfectly-timed slide tackle for an eventually unsuccessful corner to the visitors.

Failing to convert that chance would cost Henk Brugge’s side within the next five minutes. Rexhbecaj knocked a ground pass to Souza, who got around Marvin Peersman’s standing tackle before sending another short pass in the direction of Besio at the edge of the box. The 22-year-old Swiss forward faked the initial attempt to get Soualhia out of the way, before curling the following shot past Koeman and into the bottom-right corner to double the lead for Tobias Strobl’s Wölfe.

Following Besio’s marker, there was not much action until the first hydration break - but that was not too much of an issue for Wolfsburg, who were compact in their own half. The only notable chance was a pass from Rexhbecaj to Kumbedi on the left side of the Telstar third, before the latter delivered a cross into the right side of the box. Neither Fraser Hornby or Glatzel could time their run well enough to meet it with a header, and Koeman gloved it down without any issues.

Kumbedi would, who Mæhle. The cross from the Danish international was headed by Glatzel on the left side of the box, but a counteracting header from Soualhia deflected the ball behind the 32-year-old German forward. Besio was there to latch onto the rebound, lifting it over Koeman, off the head of Jeff Hardeveld, and over the line to increase the Wolfsburg lead to 3-0.

As Strobl’s side had a large enough advantage by this point, the back line had some creative freedom, opportunities to move forward. With under ten minutes to the break, Rexhbecaj passed the ball short to Mæhle, who found enough space for a through ball to Glatzel. Heading towards the edge of the box, Glatzel attempted to thread the ball between Hardeveld and Peersman to Muhammed Damar - but the latter could not get into the space in time, and Koeman gloved the ball with both hands.

The two sides went into the break with Wolfsburg holding a comfortable advantage; as this was a preseason friendly, the statistics of the opening term were not posted. Two of the eight players on the bench were brought on for the start of the second half: Austrian goalkeeper Pavao Pervan to replace Jakub Zieliński, and German full-back Kilian Fischer to replace Saël Kumbedi.

Telstar would look more lively in the first few minutes of the second half, connecting a series of passes. They came very close to getting on the scoreboard in the forty-eighth minute, as Soufiane Hetli’s pass to the edge of the box was followed by a perfect backheel from Patrick Brouwer. Rui Mendes received the ball on the right side of the box and blasted an attempt over a diving Jakub Zieliński, off the bar and quickly cleared.

At the fifty-eighth minute mark, the Eredivisie side would manage another decent opportunity. Owusu’s pass to Hardeveld on the left side of the Wolfsburg third would find its way to Jelani Seedorf; Angély would close down the angle and win possession, tapping the ball and deflecting it off the 21-year-old Dutchman before falling to the ground. The Telstar players begun to call for a penalty, but none was given and Pervan would punt the ball into the midfield on the ensuing goal kick.

Hetli and Owusu would combine on a few passes towards the left side of the box just three minutes later, eventually finding Seedorf with Wahl and Angély tracking slightly behind. Seedorf would go for the top-left corner with his left boot, but blasted the ball off the outside of the post instead.

At this point, Wolfsburg made another pair of changes, in the hopes that the momentum would shift in their favour and, to a degree, for defensive stability: Japanese forward Kento Shiogai would replace Fraser Hornby in the attacking midfield, while Polish defensive midfielder Eric Grzywacz would take the place of Vinícius Souza.

This would not stop Telstar from getting on the scoreboard, though. In the seventy-fifth minute, Emirhan Demircan would weave his way past Mæhle before lifting the ball into the centre of the box; Hetli would instantly blast it past a helpless Pervan and into the left side of the net to make it a 3-1 match.

Wolfsburg’s first and only notable chance of the second half came in the seventy-eighth minute, as Damar’s short pass into the right side of the box was met by the right boot of Shiogai. The 21-year-old Japanese international would try for a low shot towards the bottom-left corner, but it was struck off the wrong part of his boot and rolled slightly wide for a goal kick to the Dutch side.

The full-time whistle would go soon after, with VfL Wolfsburg the victors by three goals to one. The club will have one more friendly, at 14:00 CET tomorrow against RB Leipzig - after that, the 2. Bundesliga campaign will officially get underway at Volkswagen Arena against 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday, 8. August, with kickoff set for 20:30 CET.