FIRST TEAM
04/01/2010

Next opponents: Europa League quarter finalists

VfL Wolfsburg - surprise champions last year - find themselves comfortably in mid-table with just six matches to go.

It seems that all of the club's potential for glory disappeared with Felix Magath, who left in the summer for Schalke 04. Armin Veh was presented as his successor, but the man who led VfB Stuttgart to the title in 2007 only lasted half a season. Out of the Champions League, out of the DFB Cup, tenth in the Bundesliga - reason enough for sporting director Dieter Hoeneß to replace the 49-year-old tactician with the experience Lorenz-Günther Kostner. Wolfsburg currently lie in ninth spot with 29 games gone, having won five, drawn one and lost three since the new boss' arrival.

The last of those defeats was a resounding 5-1 thumping by bottom side Hertha Berlin. "We completely flopped. This defeat really hurts," said Kostner. "Try to understand it, though. The team will pull together now and come back stronger," he added optimistically. Following their Champions League K.O., the Wolves have found form in the Europa League. After Christian Gentner fired them into the quarter-finals with an extra-time strike against Rubin Kazan in the last 16, Wolfsburg are set to take on Fulham FC (Thursday 21:05 CET). If the German side can indeed find a way past the English outfit, there is a chance they could face fellow Bundesliga outfit Hamburger SV in the semis.

 

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