Wolfsburg aim to build on Gent success

VfL Wolfsburg are well placed to continue their first UEFA Champions League knockout phase campaign into the quarter-finals, although a late fightback in the first leg has given KAA Gent hope of prolonging their debut season in the competition.

• The round of 16 first leg was the first time Wolfsburg had faced Belgian opponents in Europe and the German team needed little time to acclimatise as Julian Draxler struck either side of half-time to give them a two-goal lead. Max Kruse's volley on the hour looked to have ended the contest, but Sven Kums and Kalifa Coulibaly scored in the last ten minutes to revive Gent's hopes.

Match background

Wolfsburg
• In their second UEFA Champions League campaign, Wolfsburg won Group B with 12 points, two ahead of PSV Eindhoven.

• They won all three home fixtures, 1-0 against PFC CSKA Moskva, 2-0 against PSV and 3-2 against Manchester United FC on matchday six, the victory which secured their passage to the last 16.

• The Bundesliga runners-up reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League last season, their run ending with a 6-3 aggregate defeat by SSC Napoli (1-4 home, 2-2 away).

• Dieter Hecking's men beat Sporting in the round of 32 (2-0 home, 0-0 away) and FC Internazionale Milano (3-1 home, 2-1 away) in the round of 16.

• Wolfsburg have been victorious in all three of the UEFA competition ties in which they won the away first leg, all in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the 2003 tournament they overcame 1. FC Slovácko in the third round (1-0 away, 2-0 home) and HNK Cibalia in the semi-finals (4-1 away, 4-0 home); in 2005 they ousted IFK Göteborg in the third round (2-0 away, 2-0 home).

• Wolfsburg have never been involved in a penalty shoot-out in UEFA competition.

Gent
• In the group stage for the first time, they lost their first two games on their travels, against FC Zenit and Valencia CF, by 2-1. They then won by that score in France against Olympique Lyonnais and finished second in Group H on ten points, five behind Zenit.

• That Lyon victory was one of three in succession, the first time a Belgian side had managed that feat since RSC Anderlecht in 2000/01.

• Before this term Gent had faced German opponents on only two occasions and won away from home each time. In the 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round they drew 0-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt and won 1-0 away. In the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup third round the Buffalos triumphed 3-2 away to SV Werder Bremen and after losing 1-0 at home, went through on away goals.

• Gent have won one and lost three of the four UEFA competition ties in which they lost the home first leg, most recently against AFC Ajax in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup first round (0-6 home, 0-3 away). The sole success was against FC Lausanne-Sport in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup first round, when they succumbed 1-0 at home but prevailed away by the same score and went through 4-1 on penalties.

• Gent's penalty shoot-out record in UEFA competition is W1 L1:
4-1 v Lausanne Sport, 1991/92 UEFA Cup first round
3-4 v NK Vardar, 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup second round

Coach and player links 
• Gent's Stefan Mitrović (SC Freiburg, 2014/15) and Kenny Saief (TSV 1860 München (youth), 2010/11) have both had spells in Germany.

• Wolfsburg's Felipe (RSC Anderlecht, 2006/07) and Koen Casteels (KRC Genk, 2002–11) have played in Belgium.

• With R. Charleroi SC and R. Standard de Liège, Dante faced Gent on six occasions, scoring in Standard's 2-1 victory on 21 December 2008. His record reads W1 D3 L2.

• Sven Kums, Brian Vandenbussche and Bas Dost were team-mates at sc Heerenveen in 2011/12.

• International team-mates:
Koen Casteels and Matz Sels, Thomas Foket, Hannes van der Bruggen (Belgium Under-21s);
Lasse Nielsen, Nicklas Pedersen and Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark).

• Wolfsburg's Ismail Azzaoui was born in Brussels and has Belgian citizenship.

Match facts

Wolfsburg
• Daniel Caligiuri is a caution away from a ban.

• Wolfsburg failed to score for the first time in 42 home Bundesliga games when they were beaten 2-0 by FC Bayern München on 27 February.

• André Schürrle registered his first Bundesliga hat-trick as the Wolves ran out 4-0 winners at Hannover 96 on 1 March. Coincidentally, he scored his only previous club treble on 1 March 2014, for Chelsea FC in a 3-1 victory over Fulham FC.

• Naldo is expected to miss the rest of the campaign after sustaining a right shoulder injury against Bayern.

• Sebastian Jung suffered a knee injury in Ghent and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

• Benaglio has missed Wolfsburg's last six games with a rib problem.

• Paul Seguin (ankle) has been sidelined since mid-February.

• On 12 January, Dost fractured a metatarsal in his left foot during Wolfsburg's winter training camp in Portugal. Carlos Ascues sustained a meniscus injury a few days later and was ruled out for the "foreseeable future".

• Maximilian Arnold extended his contract until summer 2020 on 24 February. Two days later, Leandro Putaro signed his first professional deal.

Gent
• Nana Asare, Laurent Depoitre, Foket, Saief and Kums are a booking away from a ban.

• Gent have lost four of their last seven matches in all competitions, having previously suffered as many defeats all season.

• Gent were beaten 5-2 at KV Oostende on 21 February – their heaviest reverse of the campaign.

• Rami Gershon played the entirety of the 3-1 home victory over KSC Lokeren OV on 26 February, his first appearance since June because of a knee injury.