Wolfsburg seek to regain their position among the true title contenders when the reigning champions play host to struggling Nürnberg on Saturday in Round 13 of the Bundesliga.
Wolfsburg, who currently sit fifth on 21 points, are unbeaten in their last five Bundesliga matches, and they have clinched a berth in the knockout rounds of the Champions League as well. In their last match before the international break, they were 2-1 winners at Hoffenheim in a hard-fought contest.
Nürnberg, however, are in dire straits having dipped into the relegation zone on just nine points from 12 games. They have just one victory in their last seven league matches, and the pressure is beginning to mount on manager Michael Oenning to get the club out of the lurch.
Armin Veh's Wolfsburg will not have the services of Jonathan Santana with a muscle injury, and captain Zvjezdan Misimovic is battling a knock after his Bosnian side were eliminated from World Cup qualifying by Portugal on Wednesday.
Nürnberg have a full squad at their disposal with the sole excpetion of midfielder Marcel Risse, who has missed the last several weeks.
Nürnberg need a massive break to make a dent in their season, but this is not the proper spot for that to happen. Wolfsburg should be expecting a full three points.
REVIEW:
Wolfsburg slipped to their most disappointing result of the season thus far, conceding a late winner to Peer Kluge in a 3-2 home loss to lowly Nürnberg.
After a scoreless first half, the action picked up in a big way after the restart as the visitors took a stunning lead on 56 minutes through Albert Bunjaku.
Four minutes after, though, Wolfsburg pulled level when Ashkan Dejagah took a pass from Edin Dzeko and coolly slotted home.
The back-and-forth continued in the 64th minute as Bunjaku bagged his second from point-blank range, but Grafite leveled again for Wolfsburg in the 79th minute from the penalty spot after Dejagah was hauled down in the area.
It seemed the match would be headed for a most deserved draw, but Wolfsburg hearts were broken three minutes into added time when Kluge took a pass from Daniel Gygax and slotted past Diego Benaglio for the winner.