The Wolves continue their hunt for their clubs first European title in the San Siro Stadium on Thursday. Their chances of progressing to the quarterfinal of the Europa League in Thursday’s second leg tie (21:05 CET) against Inter Milan are looking good. After the 3-1 win in the first leg, VfL Wolfsburg are favourites for the tie, even if there is some undeniable respect for Inter and their glorious stadium.
“We’re expecting a noisy atmosphere for sure. We should have respect, but not fear”, said central defender Robin Knoche. The 22 year-old and his team mates will be on high alert for the game. “Milan will put pressure on us from the start, so we have to take care, especially in defence”.
"We don’t need to hide anymore"
Sporting director Klaus Allofs tried to ease the pressure on the team, "our team has taken some great steps recently. We don’t need to hide from big names anymore”, said the 58 year old, declaring “our opponents are stepping up to match us now. That is perhaps the greatest compliment of our progress”.
The 18-times Italian champions will be without former Bayern player, Xherdan Shaqiri. The Swiss national picked up an injury during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with AC Cesena. World Champion Lukas Podolski, meanwhile, is not registered for the Europa League.
“For Inter, this is the last chance to achieve something positive this season”, claimed Allofs. Milan’s manager Roberto Mancini has already written off Champions League qualification. With 35 points, the Italians find themselves eighth in the table, ten points off third place. “The Champions Leagues, for us, is an unrealistic goal” said Mancini at the weekend.
San Siro a lucky ground for German teams
For VfL, meanwhile, the atmosphere couldn’t be better right now. A big performance is expected of superstar Kevin De Bruyne, whilst Timm Klose will come in once again for defensive stalwart Naldo, who is suspended. If they progress they will match the club record in the competition, set in 2010 when they last progressed to the last eight.
Wolfsburg, however, can be confident. The San Siro stadium may be the holy grail of Italian football, but for German teams it has been a lucky ground. In 1990, the German national team laid the foundations of their third World Cup win here during their first five games. Seven years later, Schalke 04 celebrated their UEFA Cup triumph, whilst FC Bayern won the Champions League here in 2001.