Vfl wolfsburg was already a little proud. In itself, a win against a ukrainian team is nothing special.
And since the next two opponents are the record champion of france and the ex-champion of belgium, it was still not much more than a compulsory test. But the fact that the "wolfe" were the only german club to win their opening match in the fubball european league on this first matchday made the 3:1 (2:0) against PFK olexandrija even more valuable.
"Frankfurt and gladbach have shown it: there are no easy games in the europa league. There you have to take one more step than in the bundesliga," said josuha guilavogui, who that day not only celebrated wolfsburg's successful return to european competition, but also celebrated his 29th birthday. Birthday.
The dilemma has been known for years: many people do not take the european league as seriously as the much more lucrative champions league. In wolfsburg, too, the volkswagen arena was not even half full against a virtually unknown and correspondingly unattractive opponent with only 10,112 spectators. Nevertheless, after the goals of maximilian arnold (20.), admir mehmedi (24.) and josip brekalo (67.) not only satisfied, but "very happy.
In the austrian's opinion, it is not so much the problem that some german, italian or english clubs lack the motivation for the smaller european competition. It's just that many people misjudge the level of the opponents there.
"Teams that you might not know that well or that don't come from one of the top nations can also show strong performances," glasner said. "Because if you're high up in your league and then you also get through qualifying in the europa league, then you've earned that and then you also have qualitat. That's why there are so many good teams playing in the europa league."
The next challenge awaits there on 3. October on the vfl. Then it's on to the supposedly strongest group opponents AS saint-etienne, who are already under pressure after a 2:3 at KAA gent.
The french have a particularly loyal and passionate audience. At the vfl, on the other hand, at least some were upset about the small number of spectators against olexandrija. "The people who were there today are the true fans," said maximilian arnold. "If you love fubball and want to watch fubball, you will also come to the stadium for games like this one."His trainer understood the disappointing backdrop more as an incentive. "We see this as our task to mobilize the fans for our journey through europe," said glasner. "We have contributed the first part today."