The Wolfsburg squad left for Lisbon on Wednesday and the mood was a mixture of confidence and trepidation. “The result in the home leg only really means something if we score away from home,” explained sporting director Klaus Allofs ahead of Thursday’s Europa League second leg against Sporting Lisbon (21:05 CET).
An away goal would strengthen the advantage gained in last weekend’s 2-0 win in Germany. It’s looking good for the Wolves: they’re unbeaten in 12 in the Bundesliga and have scored at least once in each of those games. The last team to keep a clean sheet against Wolfsburg was Everton in the group stage, which is coincidentally their last defeat.
Hecking: "If we score things will be looking good"
Man of the moment Bas Dost is confident: “If we defend as well as we did last week, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
Allofs still feels that the tie in balance; Hecking is marginally more confident. “We can’t make any mistakes or to think that the job is done,” said the VfL coach, who rates his side’s chances as “51-49.” “If we score, things will be looking good."
Sporting are in good form too: They had won 11 games in a row ahead of last week’s game. “We could still qualify,” said Nani. “We’ve shown that we can score a lot of goals in front of our own fans.”
50,000 fans expected
The raucous atmosphere in the Estádio José Alvalade XXI should help. “Sporting have good fans, if they score a goal the atmosphere will become even more electric,” said Wolfsburg left back Ricardo Rodriguez.
The Wolfsburg squad left for Lisbon on Wednesday and the mood was a mixture of confidence and trepidation. “The result in the home leg only really means something if we score away from home,” explained sporting director Klaus Allofs ahead of Thursday’s Europa League second leg against Sporting Lisbon (21:05 CET).
An away goal would strengthen the advantage gained in last weekend’s 2-0 win in Germany. It’s looking good for the Wolves: they’re unbeaten in 12 in the Bundesliga and have scored at least once in each of those games. The last team to keep a clean sheet against Wolfsburg was Everton in the group stage, which is coincidentally their last defeat.
Hecking: "If we score things will be looking good"
Man of the moment Bas Dost is confident: “If we defend as well as we did last week, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
Allofs still feels that the tie in balance; Hecking is marginally more confident. “We can’t make any mistakes or to think that the job is done,” said the VfL coach, who rates his side’s chances as “51-49.” “If we score, things will be looking good."
Sporting are in good form too: They had won 11 games in a row ahead of last week’s game. “We could still qualify,” said Nani. “We’ve shown that we can score a lot of goals in front of our own fans.”
50,000 fans expected
The raucous atmosphere in the Estádio José Alvalade XXI should help. “Sporting have good fans, if they score a goal the atmosphere will become even more electric,” said Wolfsburg left back Ricardo Rodriguez.
The Switzerland defender played there for previous club FC Zürich. “We don’t want to concede. If we score we’ll have one foot in the next round.”
