VfL Wolfsburg once again emerged with a share of the points after their second group match in this season’s Champions League, with their home game against top Spanish side Sevilla finishing in a 1-1 draw for head coach Mark van Bommel’s men on Wednesday evening.
Renato Steffen gave the Green-and-Whites the lead in the 48th minute, and the 11,733 fans in the Volkswagen Arena thought that this would be enough to secure the three points, until Ivan Rakitic put away a hotly-disputed penalty (87’) as the clock ticked down. The Wolves now sit in third spot in Group G with two points to their name.
Their next match comes this Saturday, 2 October (kick-off at 15.30 CEST), when Borussia Mönchengladbach make the trip to the Volkswagen Arena.
Team news
Van Bommel made two changes to the side which had faced Hoffenheim last time out in the league. John Anthony Brooks was suspended due to the red card that he picked up in the first group match and was replaced by Sebastiaan Bornauw, while Steffen came in for Maximilian Philipp.
Goals
1-0 Steffen (48th minute): What a start to the second half! Dodi Lukebakio dances down the right flank and fires over a cross to the far post, where Wout Weghorst rises highest and heads the ball back to Steffen. The Swiss international turns and shoots from six yards out to give his side a 1-0 lead.
1-1 Rakitic (87th minute): Sevilla get a penalty after VAR gets involved. Josuha Guilavogui is adjudged to have caught his opponent on the shin and gets a red card for his troubles, before Rakitic steps up to slot home a late equaliser.
Post-match reaction
Mark van Bommel: “The first half was definitely a very even contest. We defended incredibly well but lacked a bit of composure going forward. We got the second half off to a very good start, scored an incredible goal and needed to get a second after that to see the match off. Sevilla had a lot of possession but we should have put the match to bed.
“Regarding what happened at the end, I would say that you can go too far with VAR. Everyone could see that that wasn’t a penalty. We deserved to win it so I’m not happy with the point that we’ve got. But we’re just going to have to live with it and move on to the next match, with Gladbach next up on Saturday.”
Line-up and stats
VfL Wolfsburg: Casteels – Mbabu (62‘ L. Nmecha), Lacroix, Bornauw, Roussillon – Guilavogui, Arnold, Steffen (74’ Waldschmidt), Lukebakio, Baku – Weghorst (90+2’ Gerhardt)
Subs: Klinger (Goal), Pervan (Goal), van de Ven, F. Nmecha, Philipp, Vranckx, Ginczek
FC Sevilla: Bono – Jesus Navas, Kounde, Diego Carlos, Acuna (46’ Rekik) – Fernando, Jordan (70’ Romero), Gomez – Suso (53’ Lamela), Rafa Mir (53’ Rakitic), Ocampos (74’ Munir)
Subs: Alfonso (Goal), Dmitrovic (Goal), Augustinsson, Montiel, Delaney, Oliver, Oscar
Tore: 1:0 Steffen (48’), 1:1 Rakitic (87’, Penalty)
Yellow cards: Lacroix, Steffen, Mbabu, Guilavogui, Weghorst, Roussillon / Suso, Rafa Mir, Rekik
Red card: Guilavogui (85’)
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria)
Attendance: 11.733 at Volkswagen Arena
