Wolfsburg and Napoli take on each other in the first leg quarter-final of the Europa League at the Volkswagen Arena on Thursday.
The Wolves have been doing pretty well this season as they are currently second in the Bundesliga, the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal and the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
They are currently in fine form, recording eight wins in their last nine fixtures in all competitions. Taking all this into account, Wolfsburg are the slight favourites in this fixture against Napoli, especially after their convincing 5-2 (aggregate) victory another Serie A side Inter Milan in the round of 16.
However, Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking insists that Napoli will be a much tougher opponent than Inter Milan due to their superior position in the Serie A.
"I can't see any weak points in Napoli's play. The tie against Internazionale Milano was already very tough and in Napoli we will be up against a team clearly higher in Serie A," Hecking told UEFA's official website. "I expect Napoli will be even tougher than Inter."
The 50-year-old German feels that the only way they will be able to beat Napoli is if they play their "own game".
"We have to play our own game and Napoli should be forced to react to us – not the other way around," he added. "We will play this match like we did our last few matches: enjoying it, having fun, playing without pressure, and not thinking about the result."
Meanwhile, Napoli will also be hoping to get a positive result in this fixture even though they are the underdogs in this fixture against Wolfsburg.
The Partenopei have been struggling of late, managing to record only one win in their last six fixtures in all competitions.
They were recently knocked out of the Coppa Italia after losing to Lazio in the semi-finals and having been doing pretty poorly in the Serie A as well.
However, despite their form, Napoli boss Rafael Benitez insists that his side will be looking for nothing less than a win at Wolfsburg on Thursday.
"The plan is always the same – it doesn't matter what has happened before, it is the next match that counts. We have to be at our best to get a good result and we know the difficult task that awaits. Wolfsburg have a physically strong team so we have to look at ourselves, show our quality on the pitch," the former Chelsea boss told UEFA's official website.
Although the Spaniard admits that Wolfsburg will be a formidable opponent on Thursday, he insists that his side are ready to face them.
"Many of Wolfsburg's players could easily slot into our team. They have a lot of quality and that's why we will show them as much respect as they deserve. It'll be a tough task to control all these good players for 90 minutes."
"Looking at the character, this is perhaps the best team I've ever had. They are excellent professionals. My team are ready for this and hopefully we'll have the killer instinct which is missing sometimes."
Expected line-ups
Wolfsburg: Benaglio; Vierinha, Naldo, Knoche, Rodríguez; Guilavogui, Gustavo, Perišić, De Bruyne, Caligiuri, Dost.
Napoli: Andújar; Strinić, Albiol, Koulibaly, Maggio; Inler, Gargano; Mertens, Hamšík, Callejón; Higuaín.
Where to Watch Live
The game is scheduled for a 9:05 pm local time (12:35 am IST, 8:05pm BST, 3:05pm EDT) start, with live coverage on Ten Action in India. The match can also be watched via live streaming online on Ten Sports Live.
Catch the action in the UK live on ITV 4, with an option to live stream the match online on ITV Player. The US viewers can watch the game live on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN 3 or online on Fox Soccer 2Go.Audience in Canada can see the tie via live stream on Sportsnet World.
Viewers in Italy can watch the match live on Premium Calcio, while German viewers can do the same on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2.
