Wolfsburg all but mathematically secured their place in the Champions League next season with a 3-1 win over Stuttgart which leaves them bottom of the Bundesliga.
Two goals from Ricardo Rodriguez and Andre Schurrle’s first goal for the Wolves put Dieter Hecking’s men comfortably clear of fifth-placed Schalke while keeping up the pressure on league leaders Bayern Munich.
Martin Harnik’s header was merely a consolation for Huub Stevens’ men, whose fight for survival was knocked back following results else where.
There was an early let-off for Stuttgart when an unmarked Luiz Gustavo failed to get on the end of Robin Knoche’s header.
The visitors responded with a good chance of their own through Filip Kostic, who fired his shot wide with just the keeper to beat.
Stuttgart were not without their chances, but a foul by Florian Klein on Daniel Caligiuri inside the penalty area in the 40th minute saw them come undone with Rodriguez sending Sven Ulreich the wrong way to score from the spot .
Their response was fantastic, though, with Harnik levelling three minutes later, heading in Kostic’s brilliant cross for a deserved equaliser.
The second half was more one-sided, though, with Wolfsburg finally getting the measure of their guests as they slowly gained momentum before Rodriguez curled his free-kick past Ulreich.
Schurrle then opened his Wolfsburg account with some route football, Benaglio’s punt forward picked up eventually by Kevin De Bruyne, who laid the ball off for the former Chelsea man to slot his effort past Ulreich.
There were chances for a fourth, but Wolfsburg lost their quality in the last minutes as they put their eyes towards Tuesdays cup quarter final.
The Man of the Match was Rodriguez whose brace was enough to get his team all three points against a stubborn Stuttgart side.