Wolfsburg were disappointed to miss out on European cup competition last season and the club went into this one knowing that improvement was demanded. But the players and coaching staff responded and delivered a very strong season which almost resulted in Champions League football, though they were just pipped to the post by Bayer Leverkusen. Wolfsburg started the season without making any marquee signing until Luiz Gustavo was brought in just before the transfer window closed but generally they simply improved their depth with the likes of Daniel Caligiuri, Max Grün and Felipe Lopes coming into the team. But arguably they still lacked a real number nine and this was perhaps one of the reasons that their form was somewhat patchy throughout most of the season. They would often go for a few rounds playing excellent football and winning easily before losing a couple of games in a row or being beaten by sides they would expect to get three points against. Their performances against top sides were also generally inconsistent with wins in the first half of the season coming against the likes of Dortmund and Schalke, who finished second and third, whilst losing to Bayern and Leverkusen, who finished first and fourth. At Christmas Die Wölfe had managed to fight through to the quarter final of the cup, a competition they eventually went out at of at the semi final stage, and were in fifth place in the league. The January transfer window saw them spend some cash as Kevin de Bruyne was brought in to replace the outgoing Diego, who transferred to Athletico Madrid, and the Belgian would steadily improve to become one of the key members of the squad. While the results continued to be good, they were never able to really kick on and take control of one of the top places with the likes of Schalke improving and overtaking Wolfsburg in the table. Two heavy defeats to Hoffenheim and Bayern followed up by draws against Braunschweig and Augsburg seemed to end the dream of a Champions League place but the poor form of Leverkusen meant that even until the final day of the season they had a chance of taking fourth spot although Leverkusen just held on. A fifth place finish gives Wolfsburg a chance to build next season and should allow them to attract a high quality of player to the club. Few players really stand out as a star performers with the club's league position the result of good team work but captain and goalkeeper Diego Benaglio was key to their performances and kept them in a number of matches which helped them achieve their league position.
