Champions League: Wolfsburg saves a point when outnumbered


Status: 14.09.2021 11:50 p.m.

Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg achieved partial success on its comeback in the Champions League. The Lower Saxony reached a 0-0 at the French champions OSC Lille on Tuesday. They played outnumbered for half an hour.

Defender John Anthony Brooks made sure of that in the 62nd minute. Already warned, he played the ball with his hand and rightly saw the yellow-red card. The Bundesliga leader owed the point gain mainly to his goalkeeper Koen Casteels, who showed a strong performance. For the “Wolves” it was the first appearance in the Champions League in five and a half years. In April 2016, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid. In the duel between the other two teams in Group G, Sevilla FC did not get more than 1: 1 (1: 1) at home against RB Salzburg.

“We didn’t have many chances, actually none,” admitted VfL coach Mark van Bommel at the press conference. “If you can’t win, then you have to play to zero. And if you play undernumbered for 35 minutes and you get a point with the French champions, then you have to be satisfied.”

VfL strong defensively, not present offensively

The Dutchman had given Ridle Baku a more offensive role in the starting line-up, he played in the right midfield. The right-back position was taken over by the Swiss Kevin Mbabu.

In the first half, Wolfsburg focused so much on being on the defensive that they didn’t even seem to think about their own attacks. The North Germans achieved the obvious primary goal without too much effort – they went into the break without conceding a goal. Lille shot six times at the VfL goal, but it was not really dangerous once. Casteels parried a free kick from Burak Yilmaz, which would probably have gone to the side netting (13th), and in the subsequent corner Sven Botmann headed over it under distress from Brooks (14th) – those were the best chances for the French champions, who were in the The following time was the better team, but not compelling enough.

Lille tour revoked by video evidence

Shortly after they started again, they showed that the “Great Danes” can do it completely differently. After a blunder by Mbabu, Jonathan Ikoné fit in with Jonathan David, and to the great delight of the audience, the Canadian overcame Casteels to lead – to the supposed lead (48th). Because the hit was canceled by video evidence, and rightly so. The ball had previously been in touch. Lille reacted angrily and almost cheered again shortly afterwards, but the shot from Adilson de Almeida Gomes rushed just over the bar (54th). Soon afterwards, the task for Lower Saxony was made even more difficult by the yellow-red card for Brooks.

The guests were allowed to take a deep breath when Yilmaz did not place his header well enough from close range in the 69th minute. Casteels grabbed. And since the “wolves” kept Lille on the defensive in the closing stages, they took time off the clock.

But then, the exact last second of the six-minute close play time: A foul by Josuha Guilavogui on ex-HSV professional Amadou Onana was punished with a penalty whistle. But the video referee intervened and rightly decided that the foul had been committed just outside the penalty area. There was a free kick and it didn’t bring Lille anything. Wolfsburg had trembled to 0-0.

Match statistics Lille OSC – VfL Wolfsburg

1st matchday, 14.09.2021 9:00 p.m.

Lille OSC0
VfL Wolfsburg0

Gates:

Lille OSC: Grbic – Celik, J. Fonte, Botman, Mandava – Ikoné (74th Lihadji), André, Xeka (83rd Onana), Gomes (74th Yazici) – David – B. Yilmaz
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Roussillon (83. Gerhardt) – Guilavogui, Arnold – Baku (61. Lukebakio), M. Philipp (66. Bornauw), Steffen (61. L. Waldschmidt) – Weghorst (66. L. Nmecha)

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NDR 2 Sport | 09/14/2021 | 11:03 pm

Source: sportschau.de



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