First Team

Fighting performance goes unrewarded

Chances galore: Wolves narrowly beaten 1-0 by FC Bayern.

VfL Wolfsburg suffered a 1-0 (0-0) defeat to FC Bayern Munich on Saturday evening. In front of a sold-out Volkswagen Arena, the Wolves put up a tremendous fight against the champions and were even the more dangerous side in the first half. Michael Olise put Bayern ahead after the break with a fine solo effort, while Mattias Svanberg came within a whisker of equalising late on.

Personnel

There were no changes to the Green-and-Whites’ starting line-up compared to the draw in Freiburg.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany made six changes following the Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain: Jonas Urbig, Tom Bischof, Hiroki Ito, Min-Jae Kim, Leon Goretzka and Nicolas Jackson came in for Manuel Neuer, Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Luis Diaz.

Match summary

Bayern took control from the outset and enjoyed significantly more possession, but struggled to create much in attack during the opening 15 minutes. Instead, VfL repeatedly posed a threat on the break. As early as the 7th minute, Vinicius Souza was denied by Jonas Urbig with a header following a cross from Joakim Maehle. Adam Daghim also caused problems on several occasions. The visitors then grew more dangerous: Jamal Musiala tested Kamil Grabara after a corner (19’), and shortly afterwards Tom Bischof struck the crossbar. The Wolves defended passionately and even survived a Bayern penalty unscathed, with Harry Kane missing from the spot in the 36th minute. Just before the break, the Green-and-Whites pushed again for the lead, but Denis Vavro and Christian Eriksen were both denied by Urbig (37’).

After the restart, Bayern increasingly took control. Grabara first made saves against Musiala (48’) and Jackson (50’), before Michael Olise gave the visitors the lead in the 56th minute with an excellent solo effort. VfL then had far fewer attacking moments and were primarily occupied with defensive duties as Bayern kept up the pressure. The Wolves only became dangerous again in the closing stages: in the 88th minute, Shiogai did well to set up Svanberg, but the Swede hit the post. In stoppage time, VfL threw everything forward, but the equaliser did not come.

Goal

  • 0:1 Olise (56’): The Bayern player beats Maehle one-on-one on the right, cuts inside to the edge of the box and curls the ball into the top left corner, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Reaction

Dieter Hecking: “We can take a lot from this game. There were many positives – energy, intensity, discipline and organisation, both in and out of possession. It’s only natural that we can’t maintain that level for the full 90 minutes. Still, we had the chance at the end to at least get a draw, which of course would have felt even better.”

Vincent Kompany: “We played against a team that was ready to give everything to win this game. We started well, but then quickly lost our momentum – and Wolfsburg sensed that. They became increasingly dangerous and we didn’t have proper control of the match. Even if the first half could have gone differently, I have great respect for how my team responded and delivered a much better performance in the second half.”

Line-ups and statistics

VfL Wolfsburg: Grabara – Belocian, Vavro, Koulierakis – Kumbedi (90’ Lindström), Souza (74’ Gerhardt), Maehle – Wimmer (66’ Majer), Eriksen (66’ Svanberg) – Daghim (74’ Shiogai), Pejcinovic

Substitutes: Pervan (GK), Jenz, Adjetey, Zehnter

FC Bayern Munich: Urbig – Stanisic, Kim (46’ Upamecano), Ito (84’ Tah), Bischof – Kimmich, Goretzka (46’ Laimer) – Olise, Kane, Musiala (76’ Karl) – Jackson (60’ Diaz)

Substitutes: Neuer (GK), Guerreiro, Sapoko Ndiaye, Pavlovic

Goals: 0:1 Olise (56’)

Yellow cards: Shiogai

Referee: Matthias Jöllenbeck (Freiburg)

Attendance: 28,917 at the Volkswagen Arena