In the Bundesliga, Florian Kohfeldt was soaking wet in the rain, in the Champions League he literally wants to "burn". After the 3-0 defeat in Mainz, the very annoyed football teacher has to accomplish nothing less than this emotional turnaround if he prepares VfL Wolfsburg for "one of the most important games in the club's history". The eighth finals of the Champions League can be reached against OSC Lille on Wednesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League as well as at DAZN), then bonus duels with Manchester City, Liverpool FC or Real Madrid would be possible.

“Of course it will be difficult, no question about it, a challenging task. But maybe that's exactly the chance that expectations of us are not particularly high, ”said Kohfeldt. The current trend is not the friend of Lower Saxony, who lost three competitive games in a row and before that did not cut a particularly good figure at 2-2 in Bielefeld. The Kohfeldt effect quickly fizzled out just over a month after his predecessor Mark van Bommel took office.

On the cold, wet and very frustrating Saturday afternoon, this anger was especially evident in defensive man Josuha Guilavogui.

“It's the same sh ... as against Bielefeld.

This is sh ... what we do.

That is not enough.

We didn't have a chance to score, ”said the Frenchman.

In fact, the game was decided after four minutes and goals from Jonathan Burkardt and Anton Stach.

Kohfeldt sees big differences in performance

Kohfeldt pounded his jacket into the corner in frustration, then not much happened until Maxence Lacroix's own goal in the 90th minute.

"We'll break it ourselves, it won't go on like this," the waited Guilavogui continued.

Everything is now at stake against Lille. One win and Wolfsburg progresses, possibly even as group winners. In the event of a draw or a defeat, the European adventure will end prematurely and VfL, which also failed in the cup, will only play in the Bundesliga until May. “We already have very large wave troughs at the moment. That cannot be our claim. This is a topic that VfL has been following for a while, ”said Kohfeldt. When the 39-year-old former Bremen coach took over, there were three wins. This was followed by four games without a win, some with inexplicable performances.

It was the same in Mainz. Those responsible should not only disturb the clear end result, but above all the way it is done. The offensive around Wout Weghorst and national player Lukas Nmecha did not cause any danger, even from leading players like Lacroix or Maximilian Arnold, who was replaced early, there was no real sign of opposition. “We didn't do so much right,” said Kohfeldt, the words were chosen rather carefully.

The head coach will hope that he will be able to return regular goalkeeper Koen Casteels after his corona infection on Wednesday.

Representative Pavao Pervan did not make the safest impression in Mainz, but failed to make it 0: 2 when Stach shot from distance.

"That hurts a lot," Pervan said of the defeat.

Wolfsburg doesn't have much time left.

While still in the Mainz catacombs, Kohfeldt announced: "Now the focus is immediately on the game against Lille."