It would not have taken much for VfL Wolfsburg to beat Sevilla on their return to the Champions League after more than five years. But shortly before the end, a controversial penalty equalised the score – an ex-Schalker sealed the points.
Wolfsburg coach Mark van Bommel had to do without Brooks, who had seen yellow red in the opening 0-0 draw against Lille and was replaced by Bornauw against Sevilla. After the 1:3 in Hoffenheim, the first Wolves defeat this season, van Bommel also dispensed with Philipp (bench), Steffen got a start instead.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui could be extremely satisfied with his team’s performance in the first weeks of the season, with the Andalusians still unbeaten going into the game. Compared to the 2-0 home win over Espanyol Barcelona at the weekend, Fernando and Gomez replaced ex-Bundesliga players Delaney and Rakitic (both on the bench), while En-Nesyri was also missing with a yellow-red suspension and Rafa Mir started in his place.
Wölfe stable at the back – Steffen misses from a promising position
The direction this game would take became clear early on. Already in the second minute of the game, Lacroix received his first warning after a slight foul. It was the start of a combative first half in which referee Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria) showed a total of four yellow cards and had all sorts to do. The Andalusians were a little more confident on the ball, but apart from one dangerous attack – albeit without a finish (30th) – Sevilla were quite harmless.
But that was also due to the good defensive behaviour of the Wolves, whose concentration was on defence, but at the expense of offensive creativity. Only Steffen (21.) had more chances from 20 metres, and shortly before the break Arnold missed a free kick over the crossbar (45.+4). The game went into the dressing room goalless, justified by the performance.
Weghorst misses the early decision
The Wolves got off to a dream start in the second period: Lukebakio broke through on the right, Weghorst threw himself into his cross and Steffen pushed the ball into the net for a somewhat surprising lead (48th). After that, there was much more tempo in the game, Wolfsburg pulled back, but then counterattacked dangerously again and again – Weghorst just missed (60.).
The Spaniards didn’t do much forward either, the game became even more harmless, VfL defended tightly – and again Weghorst had a great chance for the decisive goal, but the Dutchman failed to clear Bono (72).
Disgraceful penalty misses Wolfsburg’s reward
Deep into the closing stages, Bornauw and Lacroix kept things tight in the penalty area – but then the VAR suddenly intervened: Guilavogui had cleared in front of Lamela, but hit the Argentine on the shin as he swung through. Actually, it was a harmless situation, the game continued, but during a stoppage, VAR Kevin Blom (Netherlands) sent the referee Georgi Kabakov, who often did not seem very happy on this day, to the screen. The referee then surprisingly pointed to the spot – on top of that Guilavogui had to leave the pitch with a yellow card (85th). Rakitic converted the controversial penalty to make it 1-1 (87th) – the late equaliser also meant the final score.
Wolfsburg thus missed the first three points in this Champions League season, which would not have been undeserved. Sevilla prevented the first defeat of the current season shortly before the end.
Wolfsburg continue their campaign on Saturday (15.30) with a home match against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Sevilla are in action the following day (21.00) at FC Granada.
