the valve clearances are very tight in these VW engines, if the engine was turned over out of timing there is a 99% chance the valves were damaged. There is even a warning message in the service manual to NOT turn the cam.
Before the belt was removed the crank should have been marked on the intermediate flange associated with the crank pully. Then make sure the cam pulley is on mark while crank is on TDC. The cam pulley should have a mark on it and should be almost between 11 and 12oclock position. The manual says to have the #1 cylinder cam journal lobes in the TDC position, there should be a mark there to identify that on the pulley.

But if the engine was turned over with the timing off you probably have bent valves now.