26th matchday: Wolfsburg loses outnumbered: Was that it for Kovac?

VfL Wolfsburg’s sporting decline continues. In the 1:3 (1:1) defeat against FC Augsburg, the ambitious Volkswagen club remained without a win in the tenth Bundesliga game of the new year.

Now more than ever, with the start of the two-week international break, the question is what will happen next for Wolfsburg coach Niko Kovac. Is the club continuing to try as planned to at least finish this season with the former Bayern coach? Or does the 52-year-old have to leave after just two wins in the last 20 league games?

What’s new since this 26th matchday is that Wolfsburg could once again be in danger of relegation. The lead over the relegation place shrank to six points thanks to Mainz’s win against VfL Bochum.

Jakic double pack

The Augsburg goals were scored by Arne Maier (45th minute) and Kristijan Jakic (61st/79th minute). But the central figure in front of 21,735 spectators was Wolfsburg’s Patrick Wimmer. In the ninth minute, the 22-year-old Austrian put VfL in the lead, rewarding one of Wolfsburg’s strongest early phases of the season.

Lower Saxony could have been leading 2-0 or 3-0 long ago when Wimmer received a red card that was both unnecessary and worthy of criticism shortly before half-time. First, the winger lost the ball to Kevin Mbabu, then he fouled the former Wolfsburg player on the edge of the penalty area. Referee Timo Gerach immediately showed red, although VfL defender Maxence Lacroix could have intervened and there was therefore no emergency brake situation. And Maier’s deflected free kick also flew into the goal to make it 1-1 (45th).

Wimmer left the field with his jersey pulled over his head and an angry punch against the housing of the locker room. In the 2-3 first leg defeat he had to be substituted after a foul by Augsburg’s Mads Pedersen and was then sidelined for weeks with an ankle injury. However, there was no red card back then.

Augsburg looks towards Europe

The Augsburg team dominated the game after the break and achieved their fourth win in a row thanks to Jakic’s goal. After a weak start to the season, FCA is now what VfL Wolfsburg really wanted to be after transfers for more than 70 million euros this season: a serious candidate for a place at least in the European Conference League.

Augsburg didn’t have to do much for this victory. Rather, the course of the game showed how weakened Wolfsburg are after the winless series of the past few weeks. The sending off and equalizing goal caused more of a shock than a collective rebellion.

It was only after the second goal that VfL risked a little more when they were outnumbered and at times dared to move forward again. Jonas Wind missed the only chance to make it 2-2 in the 71st minute. After the 1:3 thanks to a long-range shot from Jakic, the game was decided. And for the first time in the Wolfsburg fan block there was a timid cry: “Kovac out!”