Wolfsburg was bottom of the table in this Champions League matchday. After the 2-1 win against Salzburg, everything is possible again for the Bundesliga club. The change of coach has achieved a lot in a short period of time.
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Wolfsburg coach Florian Kohfeldt gesticulates. Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa (Image: dpa)
(Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa)
Wolfsburg – The players at VfL Wolfsburg only found out exactly what the first win in this Champions League season was worth two and a half hours after the final whistle.
The group favorites FC Sevilla surprisingly lost 2-1 to OSC Lille. The Wolfsburg can now even afford a defeat in Spain on November 23rd – and would then still have the chance to qualify for the round of 16 before the last group game against French champions Lille (December 8th). “We have again worked out a more realistic possibility to overwinter in the Champions League,” said the new VfL coach Florian Kohfeldt after the 2-1 (1-1) against table leaders FC Red Bull Salzburg.
What exactly the change of coach in Wolfsburg had done could already be seen on Tuesday evening during the Salzburg game. Defensive work, body language, passion, teamwork: In many ways, VfL under Kohfeldt again showed a completely different face than in the 1: 3 first leg defeat against the Austrian champions just two weeks earlier.
While under his predecessor Mark van Bommel a lot of the Wolfsburg game remained strangely vague and contoured, now everyone feels “comfortable on the pitch and knows what we have to do”, said the winning goal scorer Lukas Nmecha. The players praise Kohfeldt’s clear instructions and the emphasis on Wolfsburg’s defensive qualities in his new 3-4-3 system. «If someone loses a duel, someone else is there. That was our strength last year – and now it’s back. We have found our intensity again, ”said the new defense chief Josuha Guilavogui.
In front of 16,112 spectators, VfL took the lead in the fourth minute through Ridle Baku. After equalizing with a directly converted free kick by Maximilian Wöber (30th), Nmecha scored the acclaimed winner in the second half (60th).
As far as Wolfsburg development is concerned, Kohfeldt still sees a lot of room for improvement after the 2-0 win in Leverkusen and the 2-1 win against Salzburg. The 39-year-old did not talk about the meaning of this Tuesday evening for him personally, however, any less than it was. In May, his heart club Werder Bremen separated from him shortly before relegation from the Bundesliga. Five and a half months later, Kohfeldt coached a Champions League team for the first time.
“I would like to thank the guys for making it last season that I can be there today,” he said. «I didn’t contribute anything to that. Nevertheless, it was a dream come true for me: to be at a Champions League game. ”
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