Wolfsburg v Sporting preview
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Article summary
VfL Wolfsburg will hope that Sporting Clube de Portugal's grim run in Germany does not end as they gear up for their UEFA Europa League round of 32 opener.
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VfL Wolfsburg will hope that their opponents' record on German soil augurs well as they entertain Sporting Clube de Portugal in the UEFA Europa League round of 32.
What they say
Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking: "We expect a very tough opponent – Sporting played in the Champions League so this is going to be a tough task. We know the quality of Nani and you can't stop him all the time. He can win a match in a flash."
Sporting coach Marco Silva: "We have to erase our thinking from the group stage. Now it's all about two matches in a round and this makes everything different. We have a lot of respect for Wolfsburg and we are totally focused on doing what's needed. This tournament certainly has its own challenges."
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in European competition.
• Wolfsburg triumphed 3-2 at SC Braga in their only previous European game against Portuguese opposition.
• Sporting have not won in ten visits to Germany (D1 L9); they have posted just two victories in 20 matches against Bundesliga teams.
• Sporting have already faced German opponents this season, losing 4-3 away and winning 4-2 at home to FC Schalke 04 in the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Form guide
• Wolfsburg have won only one of their last four European home fixtures (W1 D1 L2).
• Sporting are without a win in 13 European away games (D4 L9) since a 2-0 success at FC Zürich in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Trivia and links
• Wolfsburg boast Portuguese talent in the form of forward Vierinha, while their Swiss goalkeeper Diego Benaglio also played in Portugal, representing CD Nacional from 2005 until 2008 when he joined Wolfsburg.
• Sporting attacker Diego Capel, who turned 27 on 16 February, can make his 50th UEFA club competition appearance against Wolfsburg.
The coaches
• At one stage a lower-league midfielder and trainee policeman, Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking is back in Europe for the first time since steering second-tier TSV Alemannia Aachen into the 2004/05 UEFA Cup group phase. More recently, he has coached Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nürnberg, taking up his current post in December 2012.
• Lisbon-born Sporting coach Marco Silva spent the best years of his career as a left-back at Estoril Praia, where he moved swiftly into coaching after hanging up his boots in 2011. After winning promotion to the Liga in his first term, fifth and fourth-placed finishes in subsequent campaigns prompted Sporting to select Silva as their new boss when Leonardo Jardim left for AS Monaco FC in summer 2014.
