Champions League too physical for Gent – Vanhaezebrouck

Gent coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck claimed the Champions League was too physical for his side after they slipped to a 3-2 home defeat against Wolfsburg.

The Belgian side were heading for a 3-0 reverse after Julian Draxler’s brace and Max Kruse’s goal, but late goals from Sven Kums and Kalifa Coulibaly dragged the home side back into the tie.

Vanhaezebrouck claimed the physicality of the Germans caught his side off guard, saying: “We are caught out in Champions League matches.

“Here you can use your body a lot more but we did not because we were adjusting to the Belgian league.

“If you look at the duels between Laurent Depoitre and Dante, there they would give a red card in Belgium.

“We lost the duels because we were not playing at Bundesliga level. No German lets anyone pass so easily.”

Despite the late fightback reviving Gent’s hopes of extending their first ever appearance in the Champions League knockout stages, Vanhaezebrouck did not rate their chances in the second leg.

He said: “I give us a zero per cent chance.

“This was not the best Gent. At least 10 of our players must perform at their best.”