VfL Wolfsburg creator-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne is refusing to count his chickens before they've hatched, despite helping the Wolves to a deserved 3-1 win over FC Internazionale Milano in their UEFA Europa League last-16 first leg on Thursday night
On the face of it, the tie looks like Wolfsburg's to lose, but the Belgian international, who set up one for team-mate Naldo and scored another two at the Volkswagen Arena, knows that knockout football is rarely quite so straightforward.
"I don't think it was easy for us," the 23-year-old recalled. "Sometimes you perform better in one half than in the other. It wasn't easy when Inter took that early lead, but after the interval we took control and perhaps could have added a fourth. The result is dangerous, but I'd rather be 3-1 up than 3-1 behind. We need to finish this next week."
Head coach Dieter Hecking later pointed to a lack of big-game experience as the reason to why some Wolfsburg players were perhaps feeling a little jittery on the night, but was delighted with how well the Lower Saxony club recovered after letting in Internazionale forward Rodrigo Palacio to score an early away goal: "My team did a fantastic job turning the match around."
The second leg takes place next Thursday at Internazionale's Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, where the 2009 Bundesliga champions will look to finish the job and seal a place in what would only be their second-ever European quarter-final.
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