During the first half of the season, the Wolves often fell back on their qualities of knowhow and clinical finishing to decide tight, hard-fought contests. Away to last season's runners-up Schalke on Bundesliga Matchday 18 – VfL's first fixture after the winter break – the game panned out slightly differently, however. It was a typically wholehearted performance from VfL, but at key moments Labbadia's troops were unable to land a knockout blow, and as a result finished on the losing side. Here's what the coaches had to say afterwards.
The coaches' reactions
Bruno Labbadia: "We started well and could have gone ahead before we conceded a silly penalty. Even so, it was good to see how the side coped with the setback. They shook it off quickly and took control of the game. Unfortunately we weren't clinical enough in front of goal when we were on top and Schalke were wobbling. After the break we gave the ball away too easily, but still should have made it 2-1 before Schalke scored. We weren't set up well from a tactical point of view for their goal. All in all we're sad that we didn't get more from the game because the chances were there."
Domenico Tedesco: "We had planned to keep them moving around and have a lot of possession. We wanted to lure VfL in and then we'd move again. That really didn't work in the first half – we have to admit that. Wolfsburg's counterpressing was outstanding. We had more control after the restart and were able to calm the game down more often. Our own counterpressing was much better, too. We had a lot more chances and put in a really good second-half display, so the win was deserved."
