Coach Dieter Hecking from VfL Wolfsburg exudes great composure before the relegation final on Monday evening at SC Paderborn.
After the 0-0 draw in the relegation first leg in their own stadium, the starting position is more difficult than many expected. But the 61-year-old said before the second game (Monday, 8.30 p.m./Sat.1 and Sky): “We are as we should be: in a good mental state. We wanted this final. Now we’re playing it! We have every opportunity to stay in the league.”
When Hecking returned to Wolfsburg in March, VfL was still four points behind the relegation place. Before the relegation second leg, he sees avoiding direct relegation and beating main rivals FC St. Pauli on the last Bundesliga match day as a positive experience. And that despite the fact that VfL is threatened with the first Bundesliga relegation in its history.
“Far too much is being read into this first leg,” he said. “I’ve been here long enough. I’ve said everything. It’s the same way: it will now be the final. We’ve always been working towards it.”
Family day at the Heckings’
He loves this final character, says Hecking: “There is no more beating around the bush now, just: Do you deliver or don’t you deliver? At the end of the day we will either have to congratulate or be able to celebrate. There are no other alternatives.”
Hecking himself exemplified this calmness between the two relegation games. “I was at the state horticultural show last night. I didn’t see anything from the cup final,” he said. “It was a relaxed family day for me. My children were all there. My grandchildren were all there. You have to do that too. Why should I change my life just because of a game? I enjoy not thinking about football sometimes.”
Before the trip to Paderborn, Wolfsburg’s only complaint is the loss of Patrick Wimmer (thigh injury). The Brazilian Vinicius Souza can be used again in central midfield after his yellow card suspension.
