Full-time! Gent 2-3 Wolfsburg
90 min +3: Rodriguez wins a free-kick at the back post after being nudged in the back by Nielsen. And that is the end of what ended up being quite compelling. Wolfsburg return to Germany with three away goals but they will be disappointed by how things ended. Cruising 3-0 thanks to Draxler and Kruse prompted talk of a cricket score but Gent finally woke up in the final 10 minutes and scored twice to keep the tie alive. Thanks for reading – it was worth sticking around for in the end, eh? Until next time, bye!
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90 min +3: Träsch wins a corner from it. Kums comes across to the left to take it.
90 min +2: Can Gent create one more attack? Dante concedes a foul on halfway and yellow shirts push forward.
90 min +1: Dejaegere overhits a cross to Coulibaly, and that allows Wolfsburg an opportunity to waste some time. Kruse jogs off slowly to be replaced by Putaro.
90 min: There will be three minutes added on. If only it was 30! After a prosaic opening 80 minutes, the final 10 have been blistering.
GOAL! Gent 2-3 Wolfsburg (Coulibaly)
89 min: Oh my, what a turnaround! Coulibaly heads home at the near post, getting in front of Dante, to direct home Saief’s cross. The keeper is out of position, but this is incredible. Second best and treading water for 80 minutes, Gent are right back in this.
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87 min: Coulibaly is caught offside from a Saief cross.
85 min: And now Saief goes close. He has been good since coming on. Rodriguez clears an initial delivery but only as far as the substitute. He cuts in from the left and curls only a couple of inches wide.
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84 min: Another attempt from Gent. Dejaegere shoots from range. The ball swirls and Casteels parries before smothering as Coulibaly raced down on goal. If only they had performed like this earlier in the game.
83 min: Suddenly Gent are playing ball. Saief picks out Foket, who shoots low and across goal. Casteels saves it, unconvincingly.
GOAL! Gent 1-3 Wolfsburg (Kums)
80 min: Gent have pulled one back! Kums tucks it into the bottom right corner but Casteels was weak, failing to get a strong enough hand in front of the shot. It’s his 14th goal of the campaign but, you would imagine, nothing more than a consolation. Kums got a little lucky when cutting in as Schürrle slipped, allowing the Gent captain with the room to shoot.
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79 min: A sub for either side. Gent’s: Coulibaly is on for Depoitre. For Wolfsburg: Vieirinha’s evening is over, replaced by Schäfer.
78 min: Gent have had a shot! Asare hits a rasper with the outside of his left boot from about 25 yards. Unfortunately for Gent, it is straight down Casteels’ throat.
77 min: Saief sends a cross from the left towards nobody in particular.
74 min: Mitrovic spills another cheap ball, almost allowing Schürrle to break free. But the defender recovers well to stop the former Chelsea player from pulling the trigger near the ‘D’.
72 min: Are Gent the worst team to have reached the knockout stages? It’s difficult to think of too many that have been weaker – Wolfsburg, who have been short on confidence, look several levels above. Presently: nothing is happening.
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70 min: This one is petering out already. My best wishes to whoever is tasked with MBMing the second leg.
66 min: Wolfsburg are now toying with their hosts, passing the ball around the back under little pressure.
64 min: Gent have not stopped trying despite being vastly outclassed. They win a corner after a Kums shot is deflected on to the bar and out by Dante. It does not amount to a decent chance.
62 min: Kruse hits a post! Wolfsburg break as Gent, crestfallen, push too far forward. Kruse has acres of space after skipping past Mitrovic in the right channel but from a tight angle, his curler beats Sels but not the woodwork.
GOAL! Gent 0-3 Wolfsburg (Kruse)
60 min: That’s the tie, folks. From the free-kick Träsch overlaps on the right, sending a teasing cross in from near the end-line. Kruse arrives at the near-post to tuck in from close range.
A double Gent substitution after the goal: Milicevic is replaced by Saeif. Matton is on for Simon.
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59 min: Kums, the Gent captain, is booked for a frustrated, clumsy tackle from Vieirinha about 15 yards inside the hosts’ half.
57 min: Gent are just not up to the level of their Bundesliga opponents. And unless they produce something miraculous in the next half hour, this tie already looks finished with.
GOAL! Gent 0-2 Wolsfburg (Draxler)
53 min: What a player! What a finish! Another loose ball is spilled by Gent’s Neto in midfield. Draxler picks up possession centrally. He is one-on-one with Mitrovic and nonchalantly nutmegs him. Sels comes off his line and the summer signing from Schalke chips him with such ease. A brilliant, brilliant goal even if Gent were the architects of their own downfall.
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51 min: This is much better from Gent. Simon loses Vieirinha on the left and feeds Dejaegere. His shot is blocked out for another corner. Milicevic supplies it once more but Casteels is out to save.
49 min: Simon, dribbling menacingly on the left, wins a corner via Gustavo. Milicevic swings the ball in. It is cleared.
47 min: Gustavo fouls Dejaegere at right back. He is harshly booked. The delivery is saved by Wolfsburg’s stand-in goalkeeper, Casteels. He then releases quickly, allowing the visitors to break. Schürrle sends a low cross from the right. Foket hooks away.
Restarted!
46 min: Wolfsburg get us going again. It’s immediately sent to Schürrle on the right of the area. He blasts over.
Wolfsburg are back out in the freezing conditions; Gent are having a huddle in the tunnel, most likely sorting out some issues from that error-plagued first half.
Half-time music
Gent could do with having a listen.
Half-time! Gent 0-1 Wolfsburg
45 min +3: And that is the break. The Gent supporters are unhappy. It has been poor but one moment of quality has Wolfsburg in front a quarter of the way through this two-legged tie.
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45 min +2: Arnold mis-hits a clearance, conceding another corner. Milicevic takes it but Träsch heads away.
45 min: André Schürrle is coming on to replace Jung, who never fully recovered from that injury earlier. His last act is putting the ball out for a corner with Dejaegere lurking ominously. The corner is cleared without much trouble. There will be two minutes added on.
GOAL! Gent 0-1 Wolsfburg (Draxler)
43 min: It’s a quality opener, too. That’s the first moment of high quality really – but worth waiting for. Rodriguez feeds Draxler wide on the left near halfway. He turns Foket beautifully and dashes forward. Vieirinha is there in support, playing a tidy one-two to take Nielsen out of the equation. Draxler steadies on the edge of the area and calmly tucks the ball into the bottom right corner. Swish.
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40 min: Both managers, unusually, are likely to be moderately satisfied if it remains scoreless at half-time. You cannot see whichever team progresses troubling a big name in the next round.
38 min: Now Wolfsburg attack, Vieirinha’s shot from a tight angle pushed away by Sels. Draxler’s rebound is blocked. That allows Gent to break, where Depoitre is blocked off by Dante (fairly!) – the hosts want a free-kick but the referee motions for the striker to get up off his arse.
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37 min: Gent win a corner. Milicevic delivers towards Depoitre – who looks to the Belgians what Andy Carroll is to West Ham. The striker gets in a tangle with Dante and cannot force an effort on target.
34 min: Depoitre is fouled by Gustavo 10 yards inside the Wolfsburg half. It raises the biggest cheer so far from the home fans, but the ball into the area is cleared without much bother.
32 min: Gent show some sign of attacking intent. Simon has a shot from an unlikely angle, wide on the left. A cross to Depoitre would have served his team better.
28 min: Mitrovic concedes a corner on the right, from which Vieirinha’s delivery towards Dante is poor. It fails to clear the first man and Gent get rid. You can sense a pattern here …
25 min: Just as we say that, Sels needs to work – saving one of his defender’s blushes by keeping out an own goal. Arnold crosses to an unmarked Kruse at the back-post but Mitrovic intercepts. His header is heading into his own net but Sels does brilliantly to get a little touch to turn it around for a corner. From it Gustavo hammers into the stands.
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24 min: Wolfsburg go again but still cannot make Sels work. Träsch passes to Vieirinha on his right. His shot is way, way over. They are dominating but missing the final ball.
21 min: Gent give the ball away cheaply in midfield for the fifth or sixth time after a little more than 20 minutes. Kruse picks up possession, feeds it to Vieirinha on the right. His low cross is cleared by Nielsen.
20 min: Kruse wins a corner for Wolfsburg after the ball is given away awfully cheaply in midfield by Gent – twice. Rodriguez plays it along the ground to Arnold on the edge of the area. His shot is deflected into the welcoming arms of Sels.
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17 min: Gent want a penalty for a handball by Vieirinha, but the Norwegian referee waves play on. It was hard to tell from the initial angle – but replays show it hits the back of his arm without the Wolfsburg player knowing much about it. Right call from the referee.
15 min: Träsch thrases a shot wide after Wolfsburg cut Gent apart with worrying ease again. Arnold burst forward and fed Draxler. He cut in from the left and picked out Kruse before a cross in from the right was hooked clear acrobatically by Neto. It falls to Thräsch, who zips well wide.
13 min: Arnold fines Row Z with a first time punt from 20 yards that looked destined for the stands the second it left his boot.
11 min: A big chance for Gent! Oh what a waste. Asare crosses from the left. Depoitre, judging the flight of the delivery well, knocks the ball down cleverly at the back-post. It sits up nicely for the aptly-named Foket, who skies an abysmal effort over the bar.
8 min: Wolfsburg come straight back on the attack. Draxler dances on the left again but his cross is cut out. Then the visitors recycle the ball, but Jung is penalised for a foul on Asare near the end-line. Jung has injured himself, though, falling awkwardly after making the challenge. He is off the field, clutching his knee. Play will continue without him.
7 min: Kruse is hauled down by Nielsen on the left. The Wolfsburg player goes down easily but there was an obvious drag. Vieirinha trots across to take it. He needn’t – it’s overhit, evading a crowd of players in the area and bounces once before heading out for a goal-kick.
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5 min: Draxler cuts between Nielsen and Milicevic on the left, shimmies and steps over the ball before disappointingly firing over after reaching the box.
4 min: Already the visitors are controlling possession. They work the ball across the central areas from left to right but the move breaks down when Vierinha’s cross is overhit.
3 min: Draxler is penalised for a soft foul on Dejaegere near halfway. It’s a little harsh on the Wolsfburg attacker; contact was minimal.
1 min: And within 20 seconds Wolfsburg race forward, Träsch missing the target having being fed by Draxler after Gent’s central defender Mitrovic loses possession.
Kick-off
1 min: Gent, in bright yellow, get us going, playing from left to right as we watch. Wolfsburg are in white with green trim.
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The teams are out! That song is playing to a loud cheer from the excited home support. We are moments away.
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So Bendtner is off to China, then. Wolfsburg have left him behind in Germany and instead have two goalkeepers on the bench. When will this madness end?!
The teams
Gent: Sels, Mitrović, Asare, Nielsen, Renato Neto, Kums, Dejaegere, Foket, Milicevic, Depoitre, Simon. Subs: Vandenbussche, Rafinha, Gershon, Matton, Coulibaly, Saief, Deaux.
Wolfsburg: Casteels, Dante, Jung, Knoche, Rodriguez, Vieirinha, Draxler, Träsch, Luiz Gustavo, Arnold, Kruse. Subs: Grün, Klinger, Schäfer, Henrique, Schürrle, Azzaoui, Putaro.
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Nor).
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How both teams reached this stage
Gent made the most of an under-performing Lyon and Valencia to scrape through their group having taken only one point from their first three games. They won the final three, though, including a memorable victory at Stade Gerland alongside wins at home to Valencia and Zenit, who were already qualified, on the final matchday.
Wolsfburg, meanwhile, knocked Manchester United out by winning at home on the final matchday, subsequently ensuring top spot in a group that included PSV Eindhoven and CSKA Moscow. They lost in the Netherlands and Old Trafford but had a 100% record at home.
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Introduction
Hello! This is undoubtedly the least eye-catching tie of the round but is there not something mildly nostalgic about watching a team you do not know everything about? It’s all a bit pre-social media, a throwback to a time when geeks with nothing better to do than pay interest in random football leagues were judged to be odd rather than revered. Gent, who surpassed all expectations by progressing from the group stages for the first time in this competition, are still something of an unknown quanity. Not many of their squad were familiar names before this season – and, let’s be honest, not many are household now (unless you are one of those aforementioned geeks, in which case no apology will be made). So let’s immerse ourselves in the unfamiliarity; when Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG are in the semi-finals, we can look back and remember this February evening.
Wolfsburg, on the other hand, are very much a known quantity. Sure, the squad may not be as strong as last season due to Kevin De Bruyne’s move to Manchester City and they are eighth in the Bundesliga, winning only once (against Ingolstadt last weekend) since returning from their winter break. But they are still a very good side and might be coming into this somewhat under the radar. André Schürrle and Nicklas Bendtner are is not even guaranteed a starting place in Dieter Hecking’s team!
Kick off at the 20,000-capacity Ghelamco Arena is 8.45pm local time, 7.45pm GMT. Team news will be along shortly. It will be interesting! It will be intriguing! But in the meantime why not read Nick Ames on Gent and then have a sconce at Andy Brassell’s lowdown on Wolfsburg.
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