Florian Kohfeldt celebrates CL success with VfL Wolfsburg

WThe VfL Wolfsburg players only found out two and a half hours after the final whistle that the first win of this Champions League season is worth it. The group favorites FC Sevilla surprisingly lost 2-1 to OSC Lille. The Wolfsburg can even afford a defeat on November 23rd in Spain – and would then still have the chance to qualify for the round of 16 before the last group game against French champions Lille (December 8th). “We have again worked out a more realistic way of hibernating in the Champions League,” said the new VfL coach Florian Kohfeldt after the 2-1 (1: 1) against table leaders FC Red Bull Salzburg.

What exactly the change of coach in Wolfsburg had done could already be seen on Tuesday evening during the Salzburg game. Defensive work, body language, passion, teamwork: In many ways, VfL under Kohfeldt showed a completely different face than in the 1: 3 first leg defeat against the Austrian champions just two weeks earlier.

While under his predecessor Mark van Bommel a lot in Wolfsburg’s game remained strangely spongy and contourless, everyone now feels “comfortable on the pitch again and knows what we have to do,” said the winning goal scorer Lukas Nmecha.

The players praise Kohfeldt’s clear instructions and the emphasis on Wolfsburg’s defensive qualities in his new 3-4-3 system. “If someone loses a duel, someone else is there. That was our strength last year – and now it’s back. We have found our intensity again, ”said the new defense chief Josuha Guilavogui.

In front of 16,112 spectators, VfL took the lead in the fourth minute through Ridle Baku. After equalizing with a directly converted free kick by Maximilian Wöber (30th), Nmecha scored the acclaimed winner in the second half (60th).

As far as Wolfsburg development is concerned, Kohfeldt still sees a lot of room for improvement after the 2-0 win in Leverkusen and the 2-1 win against Salzburg. The 39-year-old did not talk about the meaning of this Tuesday evening for him personally, however, any less than it was. In May, his heart club Werder Bremen separated from him shortly before relegation from the Bundesliga. Five and a half months later, Kohfeldt coached a Champions League team for the first time.