For the first time since April 2016, when VfL beat Real Madrid in front of their own fans, a sold-out Volkswagen Arena will play host to a UEFA Champions League match on Wednesday 29 September (kick-off at 21:00 CEST). Overcoming Sevilla FC, VfL’s second Group G opponents after OSC Lille, will be no small feat either: With two UEFA Cup wins and four Europa League triumphs to their name, the Andalusian outfit hold the record for most victories in the competition.
Further facts and figures on the game:
Aside from their meetings with Real, the Green-and-Whites have faced Primera Division opposition in Europe on two occasions: In 1999/2000, when they were beaten 5-3 on aggregate by Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup third round, and in 2009/10, when they overcame Villarreal 6-3 on aggregate in the Europa League last 32.
The Andalusian club are making their seventh appearance in the UEFA Champions league.
Sevilla have played 25 competitive games against German opposition, winning 12 and losing six. On two of those occasions, their opponents’ sporting director was none other than Jörg Schmadtke (with Alemannia Aachen and Hannover 96).
In Ludwig Augustinsson (Werder Bremen), Thomas Delaney (Borussia Dortmund), Ivan Rakitic (Schalke 04) and Karim Rekik (Hertha Berlin), Sevilla have several former Bundesliga players in their ranks.
Four German players have donned Sevilla colours in the past: Andreas Hinkel, Piotr Trochowski, Marko Marin and Johannes Geis.
Several former Wolfsburg players have also represented the Rojiblancos, who last won the league in 1946. Simon Kjaer, who made 57 league appearances for VfL between 2010 and 2013, was at the club for three years between 2017 and 2020. Kjaer’s Danish compatriot Thomas Rytter spent the 1997/98 season with Sevilla before joining the Green-and-Whites in 2001.
