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Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that his side cannot give VfL Wolfsburg any respect when the two teams meet in the league phase of the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Wednesday evening.
The Red Devils travel to Germany with a 100-percent record in this season’s league phase, although they are now coming up against a side that have previously won the competition back-to-back.
VfL Wolfsburg have some iconic attacking players in their ranks including German international legend Alexandra Popp. When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Skinner said that his side are capable of managing The She-Wolves’ attacking threats and that no respect can be offered to the Germans.
“I believe in the team to be able to do that and I believe in the players,” Skinner said when commenting on managing VfL Wolfsburg’s threats. “When you’re in this level of competition, you face many iconic forwards. Popp is one of the legends of the game in my opinion, so to see her qualities upfront and personal will be a challenge for us.
“We are here for business and we want to make it as difficult as possible. These little romantic stories are a part of what makes the game beautiful but we have to approach it with no respect when we’re on the field. You give this team too much respect and they’ll hurt you.”
Manchester United were defeated 3-0 by Manchester City at the weekend but Skinner says that his players have picked themselves up quickly from that loss.
He said “We were good against Manchester City in moments but we just had to be a little bit better in both boxes, so hopefully, we can rectify that tomorrow against a fantastic team like Wolfsburg.
“We are really looking forward to it and the players are in great spirits. We’ve played really well up until this part of the season, so we are looking to put in a really good shift tomorrow and looking forward to gracing this beautiful stadium with a good performance.”
VfL Wolfsburg will play host to Manchester United at the Volkswagen Arena and Skinner highlighted the continued importance of playing big games in the best arenas.
He said “I think it’s hugely important. We’ve just played our first piece of history at Old Trafford in the Champions League, so to follow it up by coming to another iconic stadium is a privilege and something that we don’t take lightly.
“These stadiums deserve the best performances, so that’s what we are going to try and give tomorrow. With our quality and the quality of Wolfsburg, I think it’ll be a really good game.
“I think it’s really important for the growth of our game and the continued growth to be playing at this type of stadium.”
Manchester United’s UEFA Women’s Champions League fixture against VfL Wolfsburg kicks-off at 5.45pm on Wednesday evening.
