Same opponent, same result: not only VfL Wolfsburg’s U19, but also the Green-and-Whites’ U17 suffered 2-1 defeats to FC Schalke 04.
Early difficulties
At the home AOK Stadion, the Green-and-White U19 initially struggled to find their way into the match in the main round of the Nachwuchsliga. “Schalke did everything differently compared to the first matches. We therefore had to reorganise tactically and took a bit too long to do so,” said coach Niklas Bräuer. The visitors, who frequently played long balls, also scored both of their goals this way. For the 0-1, goalkeeper Jakub Zielinski was also unlucky when, after a strong save, the ball bounced off the post onto his shoulder and from there into the net (7th minute).
“We needed the 0-2 to really wake up. From that point on, it was our game. Both with and without the ball we played very good football, tried a lot and had many chances,” said Bräuer. However, the ball only found the net once. After the S04 goalkeeper had parried a long-range effort from Pharell Hensel, Bruno Katz scored the rebound to make it 1-2 (66). “On another day, a game like that probably ends differently with the energy we showed from the 25th minute onwards,” summarised the U19 coach.
VfL Wolfsburg U19: Zielinski – Flodin Furuseth (83 Balde), Boog (46 Greger), Till Neininger, Mandity (83 Sticherling) – Hensel (90+2 Licht), Dittrich (46 Hint) – Benedict, Soylu, Katz – Simic (90+2 John)
Goals: 0-1 Zielinski (7, OG), 0-2 Wallentowitz (36), 1-2 Katz (66)
U17 lack the final edge
Similar to the U19, the B-Junior side also conceded an early goal in their away match at S04. Another parallel: the U17 also went behind through an own goal (14, Tim Neininger). The Green-and-Whites then had the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, but Elisee Blessing failed to convert (31). And the second yellow card for Schalke’s Marcus Knutsen (34) also did not have a positive effect on VfL’s performance. “Despite having a numerical advantage for a long time, we didn’t manage to turn the game in our favour. In many situations we lacked clarity and determination,” said coach Yannic Thiel.
“In possession we were too sloppy, simply made the wrong decisions too often and therefore created too few clear chances,” Thiel added. Although the Young Wolves pulled one back through Princewill Iwuala in the 88th minute, the hosts had already scored through Lasse Deutschbein (82), meaning they lost their final first-half match of the Nachwuchsliga main round to Schalke 2-1. “Overall, we have clearly fallen short of our expectations so far. The good thing is that we’re back in action on Wednesday. It’s now important for us to take responsibility together and once again show the mentality and quality we have as a team,” emphasised Thiel.
VfL Wolfsburg U17: Pernis – Springborn, Schönhoff, Mahncke, Jiang (76 Iwuala) – Tim Neininger (65 Mhana) – Furtado Brito (46 Vajagic), Hernandez Soler – Wulf (80 Grupe), Blessing, Seretis
Goals: 1-0 Tim Neininger (14, OG), 2-0 Deutschbein (82), 2-1 Iwuala (88)
Second yellow card: Knutsen (34, S04)
Incident of note: Blessing misses penalty (31, WOB)
