VfL Bochum and VfL Wolfsburg meet on Sunday to conclude the 18th Bundesliga matchday. Not only Bochum’s coach and sporting director have a Wolfsburg past.
In August, Thomas Reis experienced his first Bundesliga game, in Wolfsburg of all places. He had previously coached the U 19s there from 2016-2019 before becoming head coach at Bochum in September 2019. However, none of his former protégés played for the professionals in the first half of the season.
Other links between the two clubs: Bochum’s managing director of sport Sebastian Schindzielorz played ten Bundesliga games for the Wolves. And midfielder Elvis Rexhbecaj, who earned his place in the Bochum team as a strong-running strategist, switched sides in August; he was previously under contract with VfL Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg had won the first leg by a narrow 1-0 margin, and the match had already offered plenty of spectacle in the opening minutes. In one of the first attacking actions, Bochum midfielder Robert Tesche played the ball with his hand on his own goal line and was consequently sent off. The subsequent penalty was saved by Manuel Riemann against Wout Weghorst in his first Bundesliga game.
Clubs with the worst chance conversion
A goal festival on Sunday afternoon at the reunion in Bochum would be a huge surprise. The two clubs with the worst chance conversion rate meet: Wolfsburg only use 19.5, Bochum 21.1 per cent of their opportunities.
Low-scoring Wolves and Bochum
And both clubs also share a pronounced weakness in running. Wolfsburg is even the weakest team in the league with 111.0 km per game, followed by Leipzig (112.3) as well as VfL Bochum, who average 112.4 km.
Equal score
In view of the financial possibilities of both clubs, it also seems very remarkable that the promoted VfL Bochum scored the same number of points as the Lower Saxons in the first half of the season. Both clubs have 20 points after the first half of the season, with Bochum even ahead of VfL Wolfsburg due to their slightly better goal difference.
