Koulierakis and Prömel headers lead to split points between Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg | OneFootball

Second from the bottom of the Bundesliga table, VfL Wolfsburg (5-5-15, 17th) visited Baden-Württemberg and PreZero Arena on Saturday afternoon to take on third-place TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (15-4-6, 3rd).

For the visitors, it was the debut of Dieter Hecking in his second spell as head coach of Die Wölfe, following the sacking of Daniel Bauer after just one win in 2026. Hecking previously coached the club between 2013 and 2016, winning the club its first and only DFB-Pokal title in 2014/15. Knowing that even a victory this week does not put them safe from relegation, the club made some notable changes behind the scenes - letting go of Managing Director for Sport Peter Christiansen after two years in charge, and Head of Performance Christian Clarup after eight months at Volkswagen Arena.

As for Hoffenheim, Christian Ilzer’s side are in the exact opposite situation, performing very well in the 48-year-old Austrian’s second season in charge of the club. Under his leadership, Hoffenheim have gone from slightly surviving the relegation zone last May to third-best in the competition, managing 1.5 times the points that they finished with at the end of 2024/25.

The match kicked off on a cloudy, six-degree afternoon, with Hoffenheim moving right to left and Wolfsburg going in the opposite direction. The hosts would generate the first chance six minutes later; Vladimír Coufal would launch a long throw-in, from the right side of the Wolfsburg half, towards the centre of the penalty area. Ozan Kabak was well-placed and rose for a header towards the top-left corner; however, Kamil Grabara would paw it away with a decent right-handed stop.

Coufal and Kabak would generate another chance in the seventeenth minute, with the Czech right-back delivering a cross to the Turkish centre-back this time; however, Kabak could not get enough of the ball, watching it sail to the left of Grabara and out for a goal kick to the visitors.

Wolfsburg would generate their first chance of the day shortly afterward, with Joakim Mæhle finding Danish compatriot Christian Eriksen for a volley - an attempt which went just over the crossbar and out. Just before the half-hour mark, Jesper Lindstrøm clipped Bazoumana Touré inside the box; after a review with lead VAR official Timo Gerach, head referee Tobias Reichel decided that the contact was purely incidental and that Lindstrøm cleanly won the ball from the Ivorian winger.

Wolfsburg were playing defensive for the majority of the first half-hour, with possession at 32%. The final minutes of the term had two long-range chances, both coming from Fisnik Asllani. From the left side of the box, the Kosovar international forward tried a left-footed, low attempt towards the bottom-left corner - but was denied by Grabara, who got there just in time to glove it down with both hands. Touré then set up Asllani with a right-footed attempt from the right side of the Wolfsburg half in the fortieth minute, but the Polish goalkeeper tipped the shot over the top-right corner and away from danger with his right hand.

Reichel would blow the halftime whistle after three additional minutes, as both teams went to the tunnel level despite a major statistical discrepancy. Hoffenheim outshot Wolfsburg 8-1, 4-0 on target, and managed 69% possession by the time the term came to an end - additionally, Hoffenheim managed an 85% pass accuracy on 280 passes, compared to 66% on 141 for Wolfsburg.

The second half started with neither side connecting enough passes to seriously threat their opposition; the only chance of the first ten minutes was an Andrej Kramarić shot from distance that went well over Grabara and out of play. Touré would volley an attempt from just inside the Wolfsburg penalty area following a set piece just seven minutes later, but his attempt was also far from the visiting goal.

Christian Ilzer would surprisingly substitute Asllani out before the hour mark, replacing him with Tim Lemperle; at the same time, Grischa Prömel would enter the match for Alexander Prass.

Wolfsburg would start to press in the Hoffenheim half in the sixty-third minute, with Mohamed Amoura starting a run on the left side and attempting a near-post cross that was ultimately blocked. The ensuing near-post corner from Christian Eriksen was headed by a towering Konstantinos Koulierakis, landing into the bottom-right corner past a helpless Oliver Baumann. Just like that, in Hecking’s second spell debut, Die Wölfe were 1-0 in front. It was Koulierakis’ second goal in Wolfsburg colours, and his first in five matches after previously scoring the equaliser in a 1-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund last month.

After Kabak and Lemperle both had close chances, Hoffenheim would finally equalise in the eighty-third minute, as Touré’s cross from the left side of the Wolfsburg third would land in the space where Prömel and Koulierakis were battling for possession. The 31-year-old Stuttgart-born midfielder would move back to perfectly meet the ball with a header, sending it above a leaping Grabara and into the top-left corner.

For the ninth time this season, and under a third coach, Wolfsburg conceded when leading in the final 10 minutes of a match this season, and the tenth time when leading or level in the last 15 minutes. Despite pressuring Hoffenheim in the midfield, and bringing on the veteran Yannick Gerhardt to replace Christian Eriksen in a playmaking role, the visitors could not press any further, and neither could Die Kraichgauer, as Dieter Hecking’s side put four in the back to at least take a point out of the result.

The final whistle would go after seven minutes of additional time, ensuring a point for both sides as the match finished 1-1. Christian Ilzer’s Hoffenheim outshot Wolfsburg 18-4, 8-2 on target with 68% possession and an 84% pass accuracy on 507 passes, compared to 66% on 283 for Dieter Hecking’s side.

Both teams have one more match before the international break. Hoffenheim will visit fifth-place RB Leipzig in the Friday primetime match, with kickoff set for 20:30 (CET) at Red Bull Arena; the two sides are three points apart in the table, with Hoffenheim at 50 and Leipzig at 47, but RBL could draw level and move up to fourth if they defeat fourth-place VfB Stuttgart in another crucial match tomorrow. As for Wolfsburg, they will host thirteenth-place SV Werder Bremen at Volkswagen Arena, with those two teams currently separated by five points; Werder also have yet to play in this matchround, as they face 1. FSV Mainz 05 tomorrow. Kickoff for Wolfsburg - Werder is set for 15:30 (CET) next Saturday.