Leverkusen were subjected to a gruelling 120-minute DFB-Pokal quarter-final against Cologne in midweek, and despite a string of changes to the starting lineup, Xabi Alonso’s men looked leggy in the early going.
That almost cost them when Konstantinos Koulierakis headed home inside seven minutes from an inviting free-kick, but the defender was denied his first Bundesliga goal when a VAR review found him to be offside.
Clear-cut chances were at a premium before the break, with the only one produced by Die Werkself falling to the wrong man in Nordi Mukiele, who headed over the bar from point-blank range with the goal at his mercy.
Granit Xhaka also fired over in the build-up to HT, but frustration mainly ruled in the home dugout with Wolfsburg enjoying plenty of possession in and around the visitors’ box without really troubling Lukas Hradecky.
That changed after the restart with Leverkusen assuming greater control of proceedings, yet their continued lack of cutting edge prompted Alonso into changes, introducing creator-in-chief Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong - a man who found the net against these opponents in each of the previous two seasons.
Those alterations did not have the desired effect however, and it was Wolfsburg who threatened to break the deadlock when Killian Fischer let fly from range only to be denied by the crossbar.
Ultimately, that would be as close as either side came to a winning goal as a contest low on attacking quality got the result it deserved, with Wolfsburg climbing into the top-half despite seeing their winless run reach four Bundesliga matches.
It was a first scoring blank in their last 21 home league matches, but just a second clean sheet in 10 Bundesliga road games will offer little consolation for Leverkusen, who now trail Bayern Munich by eight points ahead of their H2H showdown next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Maximilian Arnold (Wolfsburg)