Bundesliga
Wolfsburg 2019/20 season preview
Oliver Glasner in the dugout, John Brooks marshalling the back line, Joao Victor bringing the flair and Wout Weghorst banging in the goals: Wolfsburg have all the ingredients needed to mount another top-four challenge in 2019/20.
bundesliga.com takes a closer look at what to expect from Glasner's Wolves in the new season...
Aims in 2019/20
Wolfsburg were one of the previous campaign's surprise packages. The 2008/09 Bundesliga champions finished just three points shy of fourth, but clinched a top-six finish and place in the UEFA Europa League, just 12 months after negotiating the relegation play-offs for the second successive year.
Bruno Labbadia worked wonders in his 14 or so months as coach, but left the club at the end of 2018/19, with Glasner coming in from 2018/19 Austrian Bundesliga runners-up LASK Linz. The 44-year-old favours an efficient passing game, built around a 3-4-3 formation the Wolfsburg players have already been getting to grips with in pre-season.
Brazilian winger Victor has followed Glasner from Linz to the Volkswagen Arena on the back of a 13-goal league campaign. Austria international midfielder Xaver Schlager and Switzerland right-back Kevin Mbabu are among the other new faces bolstering a Wolves outfit starting out in continental competition for the first time in four years.
Player to watch
"The Wout, the Wout, the Wout is on fire!" Weghorst propelled Wolfsburg to heights not seen since the days of Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost last term. The Dutch striker had a direct hand in 24 goals in his debut Bundesliga campaign, racking up 17 of his own as the fourth-highest single-season goalscorer in Wolfsburg history. It's now four league years in a row that Weghorst has hit double figures. Given Glasner's penchant for attacking football, you'd be mad to bet against the former Alkmaar man repeating the trick in 2019/20.
Watch: All 17 of Weghorst's Bundesliga goals in 2018/19
Summer transfers
IN: Jeffrey Bruma (Schalke, end of loan), Kevin Mbabu (Young Boys), Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City, loan), Paulo Otavio (Ingolstadt), Paul Seguin (Greuther Fürth, end of loan), Joao Victor (Linzer ASK), Xaver Schlager (RB Salzburg)
OUT: Riechedly Bazoer (Vitesse Arnhem), Landry Dimata (Anderlecht, loan deal made permanent), Gian-Luca Itter (Freiburg), Sebastian Jung (Hannover), Victor Osimhen (RSC Charleroi, loan deal made permanent), Paul Seguin (Greuther Fürth, loan deal made permanent), Marvin Stefaniak (Greuther Fürth, loan), Paul Verhaegh (Twente)
How they might line up
Stadium
Having well and truly established themselves in the Bundesliga at the end of the 1990s, Wolfsburg commissioned construction of the Volkswagen Arena in 2001. It was officially opened a year later with a capacity of 30,000 (22,000 seating, 8,000 standing).
No detail was overlooked in its design, with the home changing room including massage rooms, saunas, showers and a revitalisation pool. For greater sustainability, the stadium has 216 energy-efficient LED floodlights and a hybrid grass pitch, while there are places for 650 bicycles outside for environmentally-friendly fans.
Watch: Wolfsburg - all you need to know!
First five fixtures
Matchday 1: Cologne (h) – Saturday, 17 August, 3.30pm CEST
Matchday 2: Hertha Berlin (a) – Sunday, 25 August, 6pm CEST
Matchday 3: Paderborn (h) – Saturday, 31 August, 3.30pm CEST
Matchday 4: Fortuna Düsseldorf (a) – Friday 13 September, 8.30pm CEST
Matchday 5: Hoffenheim (h) – Monday, 23 September, 8.30pm CEST