“The lads have earned themselves a very special game,” said Under-19 coach Nico Willig ahead of his team’s UEFA Youth League last-16 clash with Sporting, who welcome the VfB youngsters to the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Lisbon at 13:00 local time (14:00 CET) on Wednesday with their unbeaten record in the competition still intact.
Unbeaten with a stingy defence
VfB face a tough test against top-class opposition in Sporting, who have won six and drawn one of their seven matches en route to this stage, conceding only three goals in the process. They booked their place in the last 16 in emphatic fashion, beating AS Monaco 4-0 in the round of 32. “Sporting have very well-coached players with a lot of pace and of a high tactical level,” continued Willig, who feels his side could benefit from the fact that their opponents are made up of players from three different teams – Sporting B as well as their Under-23 and Under-19 sides. “Maybe our starting point against this opponent is that compared to us, they’re not quite on the same wavelength with each other.”
“We want to match our opponents”
“Our aim is to match our opponents,” added the VfB Under-19 boss. “As far as this season’s parameters are concerned, we and Sporting have similar numbers. I hope we can tilt the game in our favour by a few percentage points.”
Togetherness, intensity and enthusiasm – characteristics that have defined VfB’s Youth League campaign so far – are likely to be more important than ever in the Portuguese capital. If Willig’s players can reproduce those qualities against Sporting, then Wednesday’s special game could have a very special outcome.