Daniel Schwaab in a duel during the game.

Effective ‚Wolves‘

At the end of the Saturday afternoon clash, the screens at the Mercedes-Benz Arena displayed a very clear 4-0 success for VfL Wolfsburg. In the first half, the hosts were in fact the better side, but failed to make use of their chances. The side from Lower Saxony, on the other hand, proved stunningly effective, scoring two goals from three chances in the first half and then repeating that effectiveness after the restart.

Armin Veh must one change to his starting eleven from last weekend’s win in Frankfurt, with Antonio Rüdiger forcing Gotoku Sakai back to the bench.

Early setback

VfB began cautiously, allowing the visitors to control possession, but the first chance of the match fell to Martin Harnik, whose shot was initially stopped by a finger-tip save from Diego Benaglio before a VfL defender could get the ball clear (8‘). With further chances in the 10^th and 13^th minutes, the home side looked to be taking charge, but with their first chance on goal, the visitors somehow took the lead. On the quarter hour mark, a defensive error allowed Ivan Perisic to break through and slot past the VfB keeper to put VfL in front.

As had been the case in recent games, VfB again looked to marshal the play, and managed to cause the Europa League participants some problems. In the 37^th minute, the hosts had a chance to level through Florian Klein and again just minutes later, when Sercan Sararer cracked a shot off the post – but again it was to be the guests who made effective use of their opportunities. With half-time fast approaching, a debateable free-kick was floated into the area by De Bruyne and Robin Knoche rose highest to flick past Kirschbaum and make it 0-2 at the break.