Wolfsburg turn to Labbadia in fight for Bundesliga survival

New Wolfsburg head coach Bruno Labaddia

Wolfsburg have appointed Bruno Labbadia as their new head coach on an 18-month contract.

The 52-year-old takes charge at Volkswagen Arena following the sacking of Martin Schmidt on Monday.

Wolfsburg's loss to Bayern Munich last weekend left them 14th in the table, with just four wins from 23 matches.

"I feel well rested and look forward to working with my new team," Labbadia told the club's official website.

CEO Dr. Tim Schumacher added: "We're very pleased to have got Bruno Labbadia. Now we all have to look forward and meet our challenges with calm and togetherness."

Bruno Labbadia is the new head-coach of the Wolves. The 52-year-old has signed on until summer 2019 and will host his first training session today at 16:00 CET. #vflwolfsburg pic.twitter.com/Enot7HCFms

— VfL Wolfsburg EN (@VfLWolfsburg_EN) February 20, 2018

Labbadia rescued Hamburg from dropping out of the Bundesliga in 2015, guiding them to victory in a relegation play-off against Karlsruhe before securing a 10th-place finish in the top flight in the following season.

He was sacked in September 2016 after a poor start to the 2016-17 campaign.

The former Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart boss will take charge of Wolfsburg for the first time in Friday's clash with Mainz, who are just a point below them in 16th place.