Wolfsburg’s footballers travel to Barcelona inspired (nd-aktuell.de)

Ralf Kellermann looks out of his office at the meticulously maintained grass pitches on Elsterweg; Behind his desk is a pretty photo collage that commemorates the greatest triumph of the Wolfsburg footballers: the treble in 2013 and the title defense in the Champions League the following year. The sporting director of the women’s department of VfL, who orchestrated the great success story in a double function as trainer and manager until 2017, likes to turn around to wallow in these memories.

Above all, the triumph in the premier class on May 23, 2013, a completely unexpected 1-0 win against the big favorites Olympique Lyon at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC, fills him with pride to this day. To be able to do that with an unknown squad in the first participation, “that was a sensation,” says the 53-year-old, who was able to set a much-noticed exclamation mark with this success, with which the international appeal of the VfL footballers suddenly increased.

In 2014 they repeated this coup in a spectacular game against Tyresö FF (4:3), the finals in 2016 and 2018, as well as the final in 2020, were then lost to Lyon. With this history, from Wolfsburg’s point of view, it is unacceptable to speak of the most important game in the club’s history in a Champions League semi-final like on Friday evening at FC Barcelona – but the Camp Nou has definitely offered the largest stage so far, the football cathedral with its 99,000 seats is sold out .

Kellermann, himself a former second division goalkeeper at MSV Duisburg and FSV Frankfurt, initially started in the Wolfsburg scouting department before taking over as head coach of the VfL women in the summer of 2008. He remembers the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany and the impressive setting for the opening game in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, which gave an idea of ​​the marketing potential. But the new dimensions astonish all the protagonists. “It was always my dream to play in Dortmund in front of 80,000. I never thought that the Camp Nou could be full,” admits striker Alexandra Popp. “The spectators are longing for the Champions League to be bigger,” says goalkeeper Almuth Schult.

In Barcelona, ​​this applies without reservation: After the Clásico in the quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid, the semi-final first leg against the designated German champions also takes place in front of a full house. It’s quite possible that the record of 91,553 spectators set at the end of March will be even higher if all ticket holders actually show up – Barcelona’s season ticket holders only had to pay a small processing fee.

The Catalans would set a “second mega exclamation mark”, says Kellermann. Only nobody at Barça has to fear that, like last week in the quarter-finals in the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt, German fans will hijack the cult site for themselves: VfL Wolfsburg would be happy if more than 20,000 people in the second leg on April 30 their own arena, 11,000 tickets have been sold so far.

After a major upheaval, it was not to be expected that VfL would be able to repeat the treble from 2013. Coach Tommy Stroot, brought in at the start of the season, is doing an outstanding job with his assistants Kim Kulig and Sabrina Eckhoff. After the most recent 6-0 win against FC Bayern, the lead in the Bundesliga is four points, and the series winner has been the clear favorite in the cup final against Turbine Potsdam since 2015. VfL Wolfsburg is currently the benchmark in German women’s football and has again surpassed the Munich women.

National team captain Popp would generally like more attention for women and such achievements. “We’re behind, too little is happening here,” said the 31-year-old. “You shouldn’t focus primarily on men’s football.” Barcelona are “doing a lot in women’s football right now. We in Germany have missed a lot in recent years.«

What makes FC Barcelona so attractive? “The sporting performance speaks to the fans: the Barça women are the club’s most positive message carrier,” explains player advisor Dietmar Ness, who represents a number of international top players, including Nigerian star striker Asisat Oshoala, who moved to Barcelona from China in 2019. In that year, the ensemble around the current world footballer Alexia Putellas lost 4-1 against Lyon in the final of the Champions League, but last year they overran the English champions Chelsea 4-0. “They have always remained true to their philosophy. Now they’re the best team in the world,” says Ness, “but if an opponent can pose a threat to them, it’s Wolfsburg in their current form.”