Wolfsburg vs Napoli 12/08/18

12 August 2018

After completing yet another complicated Bundesliga season in which they have barely avoided relegation thanks to two victories over Holstein Kiel in the playoffs, the Wolves began their preparation campaign early in the effort to dodge the similar things next season. Before drawing 1-1 with Norwich City, Bruno Labbadia’s players achieved two routine triumphs over lower German sides, Baunatal and Lupo-Martini Wolfsburg, scoring ten goals in the process. Their first defeat arrived at the end of July when Lyon beat them by two goals to one, but the 2009 Bundesliga champions have risen after that loss, managing to demolish Ajax 3-0 in their last friendly earlier in August. On the other hand, Napoli secured three comfortable victories over Gozzano, Carpi, and Chievo, scoring eleven and conceding just one goal in those three matches before suffering an awful 5-0 defeat to Liverpool last week, and Carlo Ancelotti seems desperate to help his team back on the right track starting with the encounter against the German side. The two sides last met in 2015 when the Blues eliminated Wolfsburg in the Europa League quarter-finals 6-3 on aggregate.

Labbadia’s team saw very few changes in this transfer window, but all four summer signings, Daniel Ginczek, Wout Weghorst, Felix Klaus, and Marcel Tisser and will be available for the match. As for Napoli, Ancelotti will have three summer acquisitions, Fabián Ruiz, Simone Verdi, and Roberto Inglese, at his disposal, while the appearance of another summer signing, Amin Younes, still hangs in the balance.