Bayern Munich will be eager to quickly move on from the disappointment of the UEFA Champions League exit when they take on VfL Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday.
Matchday 33 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season will continue on Saturday with five matches. The penultimate round of fixtures will start with the game between Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt at Signal Iduna Park. Meanwhile, the action on Saturday will begin with four simultaneous ties before ending with VfL Wolfsburg vs Bayern Munich at the Volkswagen Arena.
VfL Wolfsburg’s rollercoaster ride in the 2025/26 season will not end until the final moments of the league campaign. The Wolves were solid in the early days of this term, sitting in the top half of the table after their first three outings. However, a run of only four wins in 26 games sent them tumbling in the standings, and they have been embroiled in the relegation battle for most of the ongoing campaign.
As a result, two managers have lost their jobs, and Dieter Hecking has taken time to have an impact on his squad. Nevertheless, a three-game unbeaten run has lifted Wolfsburg out of the bottom two. However, securing safety is unlikely unless they go through the relegation playoffs.
On the other hand, Bayern Munich will not have much to play for in the final weeks of the 2025/26 season apart from participating in the DFB Pokal final in two weeks. Die Roten bowed out of the UEFA Champions League after failing to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final second leg earlier this week. With Vincent Kompany’s men already winning the Bundesliga title, they will aim to rebuild momentum towards the cup final.
The reverse fixture saw Bayern Munich cruise to an 8-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg, with Dzenan Pejcinovic scoring the only goal for Die Wolfe. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
VfL Wolfsburg
Dieter Hecking has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The VfL Wolfsburg manager will be bereft of the services of half a dozen first-team players vs Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Maximilian Arnold (groin), Bence Dardai (knee), Kilian Fischer (groin), Rogerio (knee), Jenson Seelt (knee), and Jonas Wind (thigh) remain in the treatment room. Otherwise, Hecking has a full-strength squad to take on Bayern Munich.
Kamin Grabara is an automatic pick between the sticks, with VfL Wolfsburg lining up in a 3-3-2-2 formation in front of him vs Bayern Munich on Saturday. The central defensive unit will feature Jeanuel Belocian, Denis Vavro, and Konstantinos Koulierakis. Meanwhile, Sael Kumbedi and Joakim Maehle will start as the two wing-backs.
The wide duo will protect the centre-backs and provide width in the final third. As for the midfield unit, Vinicius Souza will sit deep in the middle of the park and anchor the central areas, with Christian Eriksen and Patrick Wimmer pulling the strings from the advanced areas. Finally, Dzenan Pejcinovic and Adam Daghim will be the two strikers, and the former, in particular, will be eager to find the back of the net after scoring the consolation goal in the reverse fixture.
Probable Lineup (3-3-2-2): Grabara; Belocian, Vavro, Koulierakis; Kumbedi, Souza, Maehle; Wimmer, Eriksen; Pejcinovic, Daghim
Bayern Munich
Like his counterpart in the VfL Wolfsburg dugout, Vincent Kompany has no new injury concerns to worry about ahead of the trip to the Volkswagen Arena. The Bayern Munich head coach will be without only four first-team players.
Alphonso Davies (muscular) and Serge Gnabry (groin) are the most notable absentees for the away side. Meanwhile, Maycon Cardozo (thigh) and Cassiano Kiala (ankle) accompany the experienced duo in the treatment room.
Jonas Urbig will deputise for Manuel Neuer between the sticks, with Bayern Munich lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs VfL Wolfsburg as Kompany rotates his troops. The backline will feature Josip Stanisic, Dayot Upamecano, Kim Min-jae, and Hiroki Ito.
As for the midfield unit, Bara Sapoko Ndiaye will line up alongside Leon Goretzka in the double pivot, with Raphael Guerreiro reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Nicolas Jackson will spearhead the Bayern Munich attack against Wolfsburg, with Luis Diaz and Lennart Karl completing the numbers in the offensive unit.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Urbig; Stanisic, Upamecano, Kim, Ito; Goretzka, Ndiaye; Karl, Guerreiro, Diaz; Jackson
Key Stats
- Bayern Munich are on a 23-game unbeaten run against VfL Wolfsburg, failing to win only two of those meetings (W21).
- Bayern Munich have failed to win their last three games in all competitions (D2 L1), conceding nine goals in that run.
- For the first time in 2026, VfL Wolfsburg are unbeaten in three games, and their draw with SC Freiburg in Matchday 32 helped them climb out of the automatic relegation spots for the first time in two months.
- Bayern Munich’s defeat to FC Augsburg earlier this year remains their only Bundesliga loss of the season. Only twice have they made it through a campaign with just one defeat: 1986/87 and 2012/13. In both terms, the Bavarian giants went unbeaten on the road, as they have thus far in 2025/26.
- After the come-from-behind 3-3 draw with FC Heidenheim last weekend, Bayern Munich have won 29 points from losing positions thus far in the 2025/26 season, a new Bundesliga record. Bayern’s tally of 34 goals in the final 15 minutes of games is another record, while they have also created history with the most goals from the bench (19) in a Bundesliga season.
Player to Watch
Luis Diaz
While Leon Goretzka, Christian Eriksen, and Patrick Wimmer were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Luis Diaz as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Bundesliga clash between VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich at the Volkswagen Arena.
The Colombian international has been impressive in his debut season with Bayern Munich, often scoring goals for fun while striking a solid combination with Harry Kane and Michael Olise in the final third. However, Diaz has blown hot and cold in recent weeks, and the game against Wolfsburg provides him an opportunity to rediscover his best touch.
Prediction
VfL Wolfsburg 2-2 Bayern Munich
The home side will have seen Bayern Munich’s defensive struggles in recent weeks, and they will aim to take advantage of the visitors’ soft underbelly to hit them on the break. That may be the key to springing a surprise in Saturday’s Bundesliga match, and we may even see Wolfsburg grab an early lead.
However, the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions will have remarkable offensive quality on and off the pitch, and the substitutes may earn the away side another point after a keenly-contested affair. Ultimately, there may not be much to separate the two sides, and The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-2 draw.
