AUDIO: VfL Wolfsburg in Oslo: Positive despite background noise (1 min)
As of: October 15, 2025 9:46 a.m
The women of VfL Wolfsburg will play their second game in the new Champions League league phase this evening. The “Wolfs” want to get their second win at Valeranga IF – and thus overcome the frustration of the defeat against Bayern Munich.
The Wolfsburg women had to lick their wounds a bit after the 3-1 defeat against FCB. Top game lost – and the Bundesliga table lead at the same time. You can nibble on that.
When dealing with frustration, it is often helpful to play the next game quickly, based on the motto: “Just don’t think too much.” And as the game plan would have it, coach Stephan Lerch’s team will have the second matchday in the Champions League this evening (6.45 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter), just a week after the start of the premier class.
There were a lot of goals before the game against FCB
Then the “Wolfs” want to repeat what they did well in the first premier class game against Paris Saint-Germain (4-0) and before that in the Bundesliga against Essen (8-0) and in the cup against Buntentor (11-0): appear dominant, act with grip – and score a lot of goals.
To achieve this – Lerch analyzed after the first defeat of the season on Saturday – unlike against FCB, the pressing had to become “more grippy” again in order not to have to “make so many moves backwards”: “We had imagined it a little differently.”
Lerch expects a different game than against Munich or Paris
The game against Valeranga IF will certainly be different. On the one hand, because the Norwegian champions and cup winners, who are only in second place in the Toppserien in the current round, are of a completely different “caliber” to the Munich team. And on the other hand, because the team is an unknown for Lerch and his team. Both clubs meet for the first time in a competitive game.
“I know every single person in this club. This is obviously exciting for me – I really want to win the game.”
Wolfsburg’s player Thea Bjelde
At least the Wolfsburg women could have a little “insider knowledge” through the Norwegian national player Thea Bjelde. The midfielder was under contract in Oslo from 2021 to 2025 before moving to Wolfsburg in the summer. “It’s nice to be back,” she said on Tuesday, referring to returning to her old place of work. “I know every single person in this club. This is of course exciting for me – I really want to win the game, but of course it is also a special moment to play against my former club,” said Bjelde before the game.
Your new coach sees the encounter as “a great opportunity to score six points. That would be great considering the timing,” said Lerch. Against Valerenga it will be “different than against Paris,” he predicted. “We have observed Valerenga differently. In the domestic league they are one of the top teams, so they press higher. Internationally they are a little lower. We expect them to be lower so that they can get into the transition moments,” said the coach, who has to do without Svenja Huth (infection) and Ella Peddemors (muscular injury).
Valeranga IF already under pressure against Wolfsburg
The team from Oslo is already under pressure against the Lower Saxony team after the 0-1 defeat against Manchester United in their first premier class encounter. Conversely, despite the successful start, this also applies to VfL: Given the further games against Lyon (November 11th), Manchester United (November 19th), Real Madrid (December 9th) and Chelsea (December 17th), with a view to surviving the league phase in the far north, it is forbidden to lose!
Or better yet: win to keep an eye on one of the top four places that qualify directly for the quarter-finals. After the first match day, the “Wolves” are fourth.