Shinji Kagawa made little impression on Louis van Gaal during his time at Old Trafford but the Japanese international certainly left a mark on Manchester United’s next opponents. Last Saturday Kagawa struck a stoppage-time winning goal for Borussia Dortmund to end Wolfsburg’s home invincibility in the Bundesliga just as United prepare to travel to the Volkswagen Arena in search of a win to avoid costly elimination from the Champions League.
Wolfsburg had not lost at home in the league for 29 games stretching back to March 2014 before Kagawa’s clinical late winner. The goal did Van Gaal a favour by deepening the doubt around Wolfsburg and making at least one thing abundantly clear: last season’s Bundesliga runners-up will not get so close to Bayern Munich this term. Beating Dortmund would have edged them nearer to the top two but instead they slipped from third to fifth. That makes progression in the Champions League all the more important for Dieter Hecking’s side. How they respond to that extra pressure will go some way towards determining the outcome of their meeting with United.
A draw would be enough for Wolfsburg but this is a team designed to attack even if they are still trying to get last season’s groove back. It is, of course, understandable that their stride was broken: that is what happens when a side loses two of its main creators, which is what befell Wolfsburg when Manchester City lured away Kevin De Bruyne and Internazionale bought Ivan Perisic last summer.
The club reinvested some of the money earned from those sales in Max Kruse and Julian Draxler, with particular hope placed in the latter, whose £25.5m signing from Schalke was the second biggest transfer in history between German clubs (after Mario Götze’s move from Dortmund to Bayern in 2013).
The newcomers have shown flashes of their undoubted class but like André Schürrle, who joined from Chelsea in January, they have not yet found consistency so Wolfsburg remain tantalisingly short of fluency. Whereas Van Gaal’s philosophy is attracting plenty of sceptics, there is at least a sense that Wolfsburg are building towards something good.
United, of course, have already had a warning of what Wolfsburg can do. When the teams met at Old Trafford in September, Draxler and Kruse combined beautifully in the fifth minute to tee up Daniel Caligiuri for the opening goal. Even after United replied with two goals Wolfsburg had chances to equalise and, as Hecking complained, they would have had more if Morgan Schneiderlin had been sent off for fouling Draxler.
Draxler is likely to be at the heart of Wolfsburg’s attacking on Tuesday, even though he was suspended for the 6-0 win over Werder Bremen three weeks ago, which was Wolfsburg’s biggest Bundesliga victory for 15 years. The 22-year-old is a different sort of creator from De Bruyne, not as proficient at delivering precision crosses from the wings, more at ease conniving in the space between opponents’ midfield and defence.
De Bruyne mustered almost twice as many assists as anyone else in the Bundesliga last season and the service to Bas Dost has been slightly less frequent this season, which is one reason that the Dutchman has scored only once in his last eight appearances.
Van Gaal knows Dost well, having called him up to the Holland squad in 2012 although he never gave the striker a cap. Dost did not start against Dortmund on Saturday as Hecking tried a fresh approach, beginning with Schürrle alongside Kruse up front. That ploy did not work as Wolfsburg were initially overrun by Dortmund’s frantic pressing, which United are unlikely to emulate.
After Dost’s introduction at half-time and Schürrle’s reassignment to the wing, Wolfsburg improved, with Draxler especially prominent. That is the Wolfsburg that most of the 30,000 people at the Volkswagen Arena will be hoping to see again on Tuesday. And they also hope that the return of Dante at centre-back will stop United from delivering a late blow like the one inflicted by Kagawa.
