'Surprise packages' Gent, Wolfsburg eye chances

• First leg: Gent v Wolfsburg, Wednesday 17 February
• Second leg: Wolfsburg v Gent, Tuesday 8 March

Reaction

Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Gent coach
It doesn't really matter to me who we play. Looking at the reactions of my players, my defenders preferred Wolfsburg while others would have preferred to play Barcelona or Real Madrid. You can compare Wolfsburg in a lot of ways with us, but they're at a higher level: physically very strong, which also has to do with their league – for them, those physical duels are daily business. They are an improving young team, without previous European successes, just like Gent. We are the upcoming team in Belgium; they're the same in Germany.

But they play, together with Spain, in the best competition in Europe, while we play at a slightly lower level. So we are comparable, but they are at the higher level. They are a real German side with a great mentality but also a lot of individual quality with [André] Schürrle and [Julian] Draxler. We're at home first and I think that's an advantage, as we can try to get a good result and then face the difficult away match.

Matz Sels, Gent goalkeeper
We have to aim for the next round. From all the possible opponents this maybe was the easiest one in theory. Of course everyone had hoped for a real top name, but if you progress you can draw them anyway, so we have to give our all to advance. Hopefully we can do something special.

Sven Kums, Gent midfielder
Wolfsburg are a good side, they proved that in winning their group, so it certainly won't be easy. There were no easy teams left in this draw. I know [Bas] Dost, with whom I played [at Heerenveen], I know Draxler, Schürrle, and others; they've proved they are a strong side. It will be two tough matches, but we'll try to achieve something special. We have confidence, otherwise you should not start.

Dieter Hecking, Wolfsburg coach
Gent asserted themselves in a group with Valencia and Lyon and, besides ourselves, are the second surprise package in the round of 16. We have big respect for them. For both teams, the knockout stage of the Champions League is uncharted territory. So I expect an interesting encounter in which we will have to give everything to reach the next round.

Diego Benaglio, Wolfsburg goalkeeper
That is a good draw, but we must not let ourselves be fooled by it. Gent proved in the group stage that they have lots of quality. It is now our task to put in two good performances, as it is our clear goal to survive this round. Going through is definitely within the realms of possibility.

Analysis

• This is both teams' first round of 16 appearance.
• Gent and Wolfsburg have never met before, and Wolfsburg have never played a Belgian club.
• Gent have taken on German sides in two previous ties, winning 1-0 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round (0-0 home, 1-0 away) and overcoming Werder Bremen on away goals in the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round (3-2 away, 0-1 home).