It's not only Bayern who are the sole representatives of Germany in the Champions League. Wolfsburg were excellent and entertaining in the Bundesliga last season freely scoring goals including a total smackdown of Bayern at home. But that was with De Bruyne who was their best and most effective player. That doesn't mean they have completely faltered. They may not be as dangerous with the Belgian, but without him, there are some really good, skillful players who will want to show what they can do deeper in the competition.
Those wanting to cough up a few pennies and place a bet, would be wise to put it all on Wolfsburg. They are the better team, who play the better football and they were unlucky to lose to United at the Trafford. At home, they have a great record and with United struggling to do anything related to a goal, and with players like the Drax, Kruse, Caliguri and my fave, Vieirinha; the force is most definitely with Hecking's boys. That doesn't mean they should go into this match brimming with overconfidence. United can suddenly just switch into life, and become good again as their erratic season has shown. However, from the way they have been playing recently, that doesn't look like happening anytime soon.
What Hecking and myself will hope for is that they come out of the group. That is the first and main priority. Ideally, they want to win this game so that they can top the group. When you're one of the weaker teams and you have the fortune of not having to be in the same group as Bayern, Barcelona or Juventus; then you want to top your group so the opponent is easier to face, but no game is easy.
If that's not possible, then just getting through is good enough. I for one would like to see how they will do against the better teams. Not saying they will be in the semi-finals, but I like watching good football matches. I've got this allergy to boring matches and I can't seem to shake it. Wolfsburg are an entertaining team to watch and most games they are in are exciting.
It all starts tonight though, because this group has shown it has so many surprises. It's the only one where all four teams can still go advance. Man United could defeat Wolfsburg and CSKA Moscow could shock PSV, and then in the most unlikely of circumstances, both of those teams are in the next round.That's the way this group has been; very unpredictable. And when you think of Dortmund snapping Wolfsburg's great run at home in injury time, that may plant the seeds of doubt in their heads.
United may follow the Dortmund blueprint and go for the attack....if they had attackers. So Hecking needs to get his men focused, playing their football, and most importantly, go out and beat a United side who really aren't as good as they once were.
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