Hecking happy despite Wolfsburg's late lapses

• Wolfsburg were cruising to a 3-0 win before two late goals hauled Gent back into it
• Dieter Hecking says, "It's a fantastic result but we can't make any mistakes"
• "We have to make use of this position," adds Wolfsburg's coach
• Hein Vanhaezebrouck: "Why couldn't we play like that from the start?"
• Second leg to played at the VfL Wolfsburg Arena on 8 March

Hein Vanhaezebrouck, Gent coach
I would rather be sitting here feeling differently, but the result was not too bad in the end. This was clearly not the best Gent – a number of players were below their best. I told them they needed to start this match at Champions League level but we were blown away in the first half.

We started the second half well but gave away a goal with a big mistake. We started that half full of enthusiasm but then we're 2-0 down, soon to be 3-0. At that point we were just looking to avoid a real hammering. But we fought on – we scored one goal and the belief came back. I even thought we might get a third.

I do wonder why we couldn't play like that from the start and I hope they will learn from this. If we play like today in the second leg, we have 0% chance [of going through]. If we can get on top and score the first goal, they might start doubting themselves.

Dieter Hecking, Wolfsburg coach
This victory gives us joy – it's a very big result. We produced a fantastic performance for 80 minutes. Unfortunately we did not score the fourth goal with the chance for Max Kruse. After that we also saw that we aren't as stable right now as we have been, also because we're missing a few players.

The first goal we conceded was defendable from my point of view, as was the second, which was too easy. We let Gent back into the game ourselves. But despite that, when you win a Champions League round of 16 away game and drive home with a 2-3 victory ...

Yesterday I said we wanted to take home a decent result, and it is a fantastic result when you win away, but we know we cannot afford to make any mistakes in Wolfsburg, as Gent will always take advantage of that. They showed that today. So we've got a good result but we'll have to be fully concentrated for 90 minutes in three weeks' time. We have to make use of this good position.

Julian Draxler was excellent today. He scored two class goals. The first one was really very well played – how he gets through after the combination with Vierinha and shot it in – and the second goal also showed his quality. This is very good for his confidence, but for him it also means a lot. Now for the next match, as that's where you have to prove yourself all over again.