Wolfsburg’s job isn’t done just yet. The Germans seemed to be cruising to the quarterfinals after building a huge first leg lead against Gent, but two late goals have suddenly given the Belgians a bit of hope. However, the Wolves have been a formidable home team and will be looking to end Gent’s Cinderella story in front of their home crowd.
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Wolfsburg really should’ve had this tie all sewn up in the first leg. The Germans were 3-0 up in Belgium by the hour mark, but they let in two goals in the last 10 minutes, which leaves them with some more work to do at home.
Good thing the Germans have been excellent at the Volkswagen Arena this season. They went a perfect 3-0-0 at home during the group stage, which includes a win over Manchester United. Meanwhile, they’re 8-3-2 on home soil in the Bundesliga, with one of their only two losses coming against mighty Bayern Munich in late February.
Since that loss to Bayern, Julian Draxler has inspired Wolfsburg to two league wins in a row. The German international, who scored two of Wolfsburg’s three goals against Gent in the first leg, has scored two more goals in his last two games. Max Kruse, who got the team’s other goal against Gent, also got on the scoresheet in their most recent win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
With Draxler and Kruse in fine form, the Germans should have more than enough firepower to handle their business at home against the Belgians.
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Betting on Gent
Despite their late revival in the first leg, Gent’s own head coach has played down his side’s chances of going through. In fact, Hein Vanhaezebrouck said his team has a “zero percent chance” of overturning its first leg deficit. They still have a shot to advance to the quarters according to the betting odds, but at +1,000, it’s quite a long shot .
In order to go through to the quarterfinals, Gent must win by two clear goals (2-0 or 3-1). A 3-2 win would force extra time, and a one-goal win with a higher-scoring scoreline would also do the trick.
However, consider Vanhaezebrouck’s comments with a grain of salt. He’s most likely just playing a psychological trick to erase any pressure on his team heading into the second leg. With virtually all expectation on Wolfsburg to go through, Gent should be able to go out and play some carefree football away from home.
Unsurprisingly, Gent have been less effective outside of Belgium. The two games they lost during the group stage came away from home. But with Wolfsburg not required to win to go through, the Belgians could catch the home team playing at less than optimal effort and spring a possible surprise.
