Wolfsburg and Paderborn play out goalless draw in first leg of Bundesliga relegation play-off

[p]As Germany’s most consequential league fixture of the season returned, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/paderborn/G2Op923t/"]Paderborn[/a] wondered as to whether they could upset the odds and become just the fourth Bundesliga 2 side to prevail in 18 editions of this format.[/p][p]And things started well for Ralf Kettemann’s men, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/castaneda-santiago/UifTyptK/"]Santiago Castañeda[/a] picking up the pieces after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bilbija-filip/QokFiTR8/"]Filip Bilbija[/a]’s header was blocked and volleying goalward, forcing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grabara-kamil/0MhuM4YL/"]Kamil Grabara[/a] into the first stop of the match.[/p][p]But [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/wolfsburg/nwkTahLL/"]Wolfsburg[/a] recovered from that early scare and got a firm foothold in the game, before gradually ramping up their efforts to open the scoring.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="ffa82d42-4f7d-4f67-b8b0-c27742679d9b" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="9e9c506e-a6bf-4810-8ed6-89a407e92424" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vavro-denis/0QxPEivg/"]Denis Vavro[/a] had [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seimen-denni/rXT7BJbJ/"]Dennis Seimen[/a] worried when his daisy-cutter skidded just wide of the post, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/daghim-adam/MqjL5g4o/"]Adam Daghim[/a] – possibly Die Wolfe’s liveliest attacker during the first half – tested the Paderborn stopper on the break.[/p][p]A [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eriksen-christian/nBRuYbqs/"]Christian Eriksen[/a] cross could easily have crept in at the near post just prior to half time, setting the hosts up nicely to continue pushing in the second half.[/p][p]The remarkable record of no second-tier sides having won their home leg of this tie since 2009 hung over Paderborn like a dark cloud, but any efforts to make up for that by winning this away leg were promptly snuffed out.[/p][p]Instead, more shots rained down on Seimen’s goal, including a curling free-kick by Eriksen, which was kept out by the 20-year-old.[/p][p]Some cunning substitutions from Kettemann gave Paderborn some late momentum, though, and a combination of Vavro and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maehle-joakim/QscOyy8Q/"]Joakim Maehle[/a] were required to stop Bilbija’s chipped finish from crossing the line.[/p][p]Paderborn could be pleased to see out the goalless stalemate and set up a tense second leg, but did have the downside that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sticker-jonah/zNjw7D84/"]Jonah Sticker[/a] was shown a second yellow card just prior to the final whistle.[/p][embed guid="f84b0d12-0283-4131-b0f8-095cf87efeb7" url="https://x.com/VfLWolfsburg_EN/status/2057558498498502994" social-type="twitter" /][p]Having been four points below 16th place just a few weeks before the end of the season, Wolfsburg’s recovery to make this play-off deserves its own plaudits, but they now need to win consecutive away games for the first time since August 2025 to complete the job.[/p][p]Paderborn, meanwhile, have the curse of the second-tier side to contend with, but will hope they can replicate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/union-berlin/pzHW4oaE/"]Union Berlin[/a] in 2019 and return to the Bundesliga after a six-year absence.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seimen-denni/rXT7BJbJ/"]Dennis Seimen[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/paderborn/G2Op923t/"]SC Paderborn[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/paderborn-G2Op923t/wolfsburg-nwkTahLL/?mid=K8bh3OkJ"]See all the stats from the match here[/a][/b][/p]