Champions Wolfsburg hungry for new era of Frauen-Bundesliga dominance

Double-chasing She-Wolves are back to their ruthless best in pursuit of silverware — and that will strike fear in top-flight rivals, writes Martin Whiteley.

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A little over a week after tasting disappointment in the Champions League semi-finals, Wolfsburg were back in the hunt for silverware at the weekend. They may have been wounded by last season’s title loss to Bayern Munich, but that has not dimmed their predatory instincts when it comes to the ruthless pursuit of Frauen-Bundesliga trophies.

Yesterday the She-wolves captured a record-tying seventh championship in merciless fashion as they mauled Carl Zeiss Jena 10-1, with their goals coming from 10 different scorers, in the penultimate league game.

Wolfsburg could smell blood from the off against relegated Jena as Ewa Pajor and Sveindis Jonsdottir fired the visitors 2-0 up within just 10 minutes. An own-goal from Tina Kremlitschka, along with strikes from Felicitas Rauch and Lena Lattwein, put them out of sight before half-time.

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The fun continued after the interval as both Jill Roord and Alexandra Popp found the net early in the second half. Jena grabbed a consolation through Julia Arnold on 79 minutes, before super subs Tabea Wassmuth and Pauline Bremer got in on the act, and Svenja Huth completed the rout for the She-wolves.

Their 10th straight league win sealed the championship on 56 points — four ahead of runners-up Bayern in second place — and saw them equal Frankfurt’s long-held title record.

Double-chasing Wolfsburg are now hungry for a new era of dominance. Despite the failure of last season’s five-in-a-row bid, this is a club that’s become accustomed to racking up the trophies and they have the chance to add another one to the cabinet in the DFB-Pokal Frauen final against Turbine Potsdam on May 28th.

Recruitment has been key to their success. Striker Wassmuth, who this week signed a one-year contract extension that will keep her at the club until 2025, has led the way in attack. For the second time in her Frauen-Bundesliga career, she has reached double figures for goals domestically and also hit 10 strikes in Europe this season.

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All the quality sides have one thing in common: they never stop searching for new personnel to keep adding to the mix for the challenges of the next campaign. The latest signing for the newly-crowned champions comes from Turbine in the shape of Sara Agrez, who’s put pen to paper on an initial three-year deal.

At just 21 years old, the defender’s already been capped by Slovenia and made captain of Turbine. Their own recruitment drive in the summer of 2021 focused on adding more experience to the defence. One of the primary beneficiaries of playing with those veterans would have been Agrez, who can play equally effectively in the middle of the backline or a full-back position. Coincidentally, the defender’s final game for Turbine could be in the cup final against her new side at the end of the month.

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Having a seasoned professional around to assist with the bedding in of any young new signing always helps, and Wolfsburg have just the person in Dominique Janssen. The Netherlands centre-back is not only the glue that holds the best defence in the Frauen-Bundesliga together — one that’s conceded just 15 goals — she is also vital at the other end of the field. Her role in set-pieces has resulted in the defender scoring seven league goals this term.

Over the years, when Wolfsburg either claimed their first title or regained the silverware, they have always gone on to defend it. That is certainly not good news for the rest of the teams in the German top-flight who’ll fear their title challenge heading into next season.

Follow Martin on Twitter @673Martin