A method is provided for controlling a filling (rl) of an internal combustion engine (2) including the camshaft phase adjustment in the case of a predefined setpoint filling (rlsol), including the following steps: carrying out the filling control based on an indicated pressure difference for obtaining a control variable (ΛFuereg) for setting an air mass supply to the internal combustion engine (2); and ascertaining the indicated pressure difference (ΔpSR) as a difference between a predicted intake manifold pressure (psrpred) and an actual intake manifold pressure (pSR), the predicted intake manifold pressure (psrpred) corresponding to an intake manifold pressure which is necessary for reaching the setpoint filling (rlsol) at an aspiration curve which is predicted for a predefined time constant (τ).