Wolfsburg captain Maximilian ArnoldPlayer·Maximilian Arnold has said the club’s relegation from the BundesligaCompetition·Bundesliga was the result of its own failings rather than misfortune. The long-serving midfielder argued that Wolfsburg’s inability to protect leads and close out matches cost it a place in the top flight after a season of late collapses.
Wolfsburg finished 16th in the league and then lost its two-legged play-off against Paderborn, ending a 29-year stay in the BundesligaCompetition·Bundesliga. The club had previously survived the same position in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 play-offs, but could not repeat that escape in 2025-26.
Arnold missed the final four league matches and the relegation play-off because of injury, yet he still offered a blunt assessment of the campaign. Speaking on the Behind The Athletes podcast, he pointed to a pattern that, in his view, left the team vulnerable when results mattered most.
"You can always earn your luck,”— Maximilian Arnold.
"We dropped 33 points after taking the lead. These are the parameters that indicate we simply didn't have the stability to prevail in such situations."— Maximilian Arnold.
He also highlighted the physical and mental strain of repeated late concessions, saying Wolfsburg repeatedly let matches slip in the final quarter-hour. That, he suggested, was a sign not only of lost control, but of a side that struggled to sustain intensity deep into games.
"We let many games slip away in the last 15 or 20 minutes, so fitness was also an issue."— Maximilian Arnold.
For Wolfsburg, the relegation carries more than immediate sporting damage. It raises wider questions about leadership, dressing-room resilience and how a club that once made survival in the play-off look routine allowed a season to unravel so completely.
Arnold’s comments also frame the next chapter for the club: a return to the 2. BundesligaCompetition·Bundesliga and the work of rebuilding authority on and off the pitch. For a player who has been one of Wolfsburg’s most enduring figures, the message was clear — this was not a story of bad luck, but of standards that were not high enough when the pressure mounted.
Maximilian Arnold reflects on Wolfsburg's relegation. Photo: STEINSIEK.CH/IMAGO
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