Wolfsburg (dpa) - VfL Wolfsburg's trip to Europe threatens to end prematurely.
The Bundesliga club lost on Thursday evening in the round of 16 ghost game against the strong Ukrainian series champion Shakhtar Donetsk with 1: 2 (0: 1) and now has to wait and see how the Europa League continues in times of the corona virus. The second leg in Ukraine is still scheduled for next Thursday. However, it is much more likely that the European association UEFA will suspend the competition beforehand.
Whenever it comes to the second leg, the "wolves" have to come up with something. Defender John Anthony Brooks made up for the early deficit by Junior Moraes (16th) in the 49th minute. But the Ukrainians, who started with seven Brazilians, were far superior in football to the Bundesliga club, which was so strong in form recently. Marcos Antonio rewarded this in the 73rd minute with the 2-1.
Already after the first goal after a bad mistake by Brooks Donzek missed several great opportunities in front of the empty stands in the Volkswagen Arena. This included a penalty in which VfL goalkeeper Koen Casteels effortlessly parried Viktor Kowalenko's shot (22 ').
Wolfsburg also missed a penalty in added time in the first half when striker Wout Weghorst slipped away on start-up and chased the ball over the goal (45. + 2). The video assistant intervened in front of both penalties and recommended referee Damir Skomina from Slovenia to look at the handball games of Maximilian Arnold (Wolfsburg) and Mikola Matwijenko (Donetsk) on his screen at the edge of the field. The great opportunity given was bad luck for Weghorst. A Wolfsburg equalizer would not have been deserved after such a one-sided first half.
VfL trainer Oliver Glasner ("We want to continue our European trip as long as possible") had warned his players about the technical qualities of the opponent before the game. But only after the break did the Lower Saxony find an answer at times. Wolfsburg was now more agile and disrupted the game structure of the Ukrainians with a more effective pressing. What was missing was permanent pressure ahead and clear opportunities. In the equalizer, Brooks benefited from a mistake by goalkeeper Andrej Pyatov.
Donetsk regained control of the game after 65 minutes and deservedly won. After the UEFA Cup victory of the Ukrainians in 2009, Brazilians such as Fernandinho (Manchester City), William (Chelsea FC) or the former Bayern professional Douglas Costa (Juventus Turin) recommended themselves at Schachtjor for a career at well-known clubs. The new generation consists of the young Tete (20), Marcos Antonio (19) or the Dodo (21) traded during the winter break at Bayern Munich. They were already too strong for Wolfsburg on Thursday.
Homepage of the VfL Wolfsburg
The Europa League at uefa.com
VfL Wolfsburg's Europa League squad
VfL Wolfsburg's European Cup record
Game data
Shakhtar Donetsk's Europa League squad
Shakhtar Donetsk's homepage