Wolfsburg winger Julian Draxler. (Photo : Getty Images)
Last season's runners-up VfL Wolfsburg (10-10-8, 38 points) continue their disappointing 2015-2016 Bundesliga season with a match against sixth-running FSV Mainz 05 (13-10-5, 44 points) this Saturday, April 9th at the Volkswagen Arena.
Die Wölfe current campaign had been mercurial in many ways as the team failed to replicate their good form last year.
The team had only won twice in their last six outings, which dropped them to the no. 8 spot of the league table, seven points behind Borussia Monchengladbach, who holds the fourth and final Champions League qualification berth, and a massive 34 points adrift of current league leaders Bayern Munich.
The Wolves finished last season only 10 points behind the Bavarians to capture the second place spot in the German top flight.
Wolfsburg is coming off an embarrassing 0-3 loss to Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena last Friday, April 1st, as reported by Goal.
Leverkusen's Julian Brandt, Javier Hernandez, and Vladlen Yurchenko each scored a goal at the 27th, 73rd, and 87th minutes respectively to pull off the lopsided victory over Dieter Hecking's side.
With only six matchdays left in the current German top flight season, it looks like the Wolves are not going to qualify in next season's Champions League competitions. The team is currently set to compete in the quarterfinals of this year's edition against La Liga giants Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Mainz pulled off a 4-2 victory over bottom three team FC Augsburg at the Coface Arena last Saturday, as per ESPN.
Augsburg's Brazilian midfielder Caiuby started scoring right at the 9th minute, but Mainz was quick to equalize with a goal from winger Christian Clemens just four minutes after.
Die Nullfünfer grabbed the lead at the 24th minute with a left-footed shot from Argentine striker Pablo De Blasis, but it was leveled again five minutes before halftime by Fuggerstädter's South Korean winger Koo Ja-cheol.
It was all Mainz in the second half, though, as Clemens and De Blasis both scored their second goals in the match, at the 53rd and 76th, to seal the win for head coach Martin Schmidt's side.
The predicted result is a tough 2-1 win for Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Benaglio; Rodriguez, Dante, Knoche, Trasch; Arnold, Guilavogui; Schurrle, Draxler, Vieirinha; Kruse
Mainz starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Karius; Brosinski, Bell, Hack, Bussmann; Frei, Latza; Clemens, Malli, De Blasis; Cordoba
