Europa League Betting – Napoli at Wolfsburg
Napoli (+350) at Wolfsburg (-120), Draw (+290)
It will be the Bundesliga versus Serie A in one Europa League quarterfinal as Wolfsburg face Napoli for a spot in the last four. Wolfsburg will host the first of the two-game series tomorrow at Volkswagen-Arena (1:05 p.m. Eastern).
Tomorrow’s match will be the first time that these teams have met in a competitive game. (They met in a friendly in 2010 with Napoli prevailing 2-1.) It will also be the first time that Wolfsburg have played in the quarters since being eliminated by Fulham in 2009-10.
Napoli are experiencing a much longer drought. The team has not reached the quarterfinals of a UEFA competition since they won the UEFA Cup in 1988-89.
The Italians will head to Germany with confidence, though, posting a 1-2-0 record in their last three European games as visitors, and outscoring their opponents 4-0 in the Europa League Playoffs. They also have positive record in away competitions, on the whole, this season.
Domestically, Napoli currently sit fourth in Serie A on 50 points, just one point clear of fifth-place Fiorentina.
Tomorrow, Napoli’s road prowess will be put to the test against a Wolfsburg side that has found stability playing at home after struggling early in the competition. Most recently, the Germans downed Inter Milan (3-1) and Sporting (2-0).
But manager Dieter Hecking knows that Napoli will present different – and stiffer – challenges.
“It was a close game with them [Inter],” Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking said. It wasn’t easy, and in Serie A Napoli are a few positions higher and are more complete than the Nerazzurri. … I haven’t seen any weaknesses. We’ll have to [show] our own qualities in attack and defense if we’re going to win.”
Wolfsburg are having their best season in the Bundesliga in recent memory, currently sitting second in the table behind only powerhouse Bayern Munich. They are a full seven points clear of third-place Mönchengladbach.
With Wolfsburg playing well at home – and establishing themselves as a Bundesliga power – don’t expect the Italians to continue their away unbeaten streak.
(Photo credit: funky1opti from Wolfsburg, Deutschland (CIMG6442) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
