Wolfsburg lament missed opportunity

Christian Gentner told uefa.com missed opportunities had cost his VfL Wolfsburg side crucial points as the German titleholders were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Beşiktaş JK.

Tough going
Armin Veh's men brushed aside PFC CSKA Moskva 3-1 at home in their opening Group B match but, despite vociferous support, found the going far tougher against the Turkish double winners. Edin Džeko went close in the first half before striking the woodwork in a breathless opening to the second period – when Gentner himself shot wastefully over the bar – as the visitors left wintry northern Germany with the warm glow of their maiden point of the 2009/10 group stage. "We created chances, but weren't able to exploit them," said Gentner. "If we had been able to take our opportunities then we would have left the pitch as winners. After the break the balance of the game changed, and in the final quarter we had to be satisfied with a point."

'Positives'
After losing their opening UEFA Champions League matches, Beşiktaş were clearly determined not to return to Turkey empty-handed and managed to hold their hosts at arm's length with some neat football and a dose of good fortune. Though Wolfsburg keeper Diego Benaglio enjoyed a largely untroubled evening, veteran forward Nihat Kahveci's invention threatened to give the visitors a first win of the campaign as they dominated the late exchanges with the hosts fading. "We put them under pressure for 75 minutes, which wasn't easy given that we've played a lot of games over the past few weeks," said Gentner, who struck his team's second goal in their 2-1 league defeat of VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday. "We have to take the positives out of this and draw on them in our upcoming league games, as well as taking them with us to Istanbul."

Istanbul ambition
The stalemate in Lower Saxony places yet more emphasis on the Matchday 4 encounter on the banks of the Bosphorus, though VfL will be without Grafite following his 74th-minute dismissal. Gentner acknowledges the importance of his team's first foray into Turkey in European club competition. "I had already said before the game that if we took four points off Beşiktaş, then we would go through to the next round," said the 24-year-old midfielder. "Today we managed just one, so in two weeks we have to try and take all three points."