Unexpected Winners: VfL Wolfsburg 2008/09 Bundesliga
For the first time in our unexpected winners series we’re taking a trip to Germany and the Bundesliga. We’ve already covered Felix Magath’s influence on the development of youth players at Stuttgart but today we’re looking at his huge success with VfL Wolfsburg in 2008/09.
The club was formed in 1945 not long after the end of the second world war and grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. For that reason, the club is still owned by a subsidiary of the Volkswagen group and Die Wolfe have played at the Volkswagen Arena since 2002.
Before Magath’s appointment in 2007, the club had very little pedigree, with their biggest achievement coming in 1995 when they were DFB Pokal runners up. However, in his first season in charge, Magath helped the wolves qualify for the UEFA Cup and the team showed real signs of improvement.
The 2008/09 season started with Bayern Munich as favourites to retain their title from the year before, and that looked increasingly likely after the first half of the season where Die Wolfe had struggled.
17 games in, Wolfsburg were mid-table in 9th place and were 9 points behind joint leaders Hoffenheim and Bayern. Their slow start was partly due to their other commitments in the UEFA Cup and the excessive travel that came with that.
After the winter break though, Die Wolfe were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by PSG and then Magath’s attacking style really started to blossom into positive results. The wolves would go on to win 14 of their last 17 games, including a 5-1 dismantling of Bayern in April.
They were inspired by the goals of their strike partnership that included Edin Dzeko and Grafite. The Brazilian was top scorer in the league that season with 28 goals and Dzeko was only two behind on 26. They were supplied by a hard working midfield that included Makoto Hasebe and Josue, as well as the creative flair of Zvjezdan Misimovic, who led the team with a whopping 20 assists.
The defence had also started to come good, with Diego Benaglio commanding in net and a much younger Andrea Barzagli marshalling the back line. The side also included the likes of Peter Pekarik, Ricardo Costa and Jan Simunek.
Wolfsburg clinched their first ever Bundesliga title on the final day of the season with a 5-1 win against Werder Bremen. Die Wolfe have never managed to repeat that feat but did win their first DFB Pokal in 2015.
Dzeko and Barzagli would go on to be the most successful players in the team afterwards with respective moves to Man City and Juventus both in 2011.
Either way though, the achievement itself of winning the league is seriously impressive considering the only team to beat Bayern Munich to the league since then, was Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund team.