Grafite celebrates it alone
Wolfsburg coach Armin Veh hopes his side's convincing Champions League victory over CSKA Moscow can kick-start their domestic title defence.
A hat-trick from Brazilian striker Grafite ensured a 3-1 win over Juande Ramos' side, a result which went some way to easing the pain of three successive Bundesliga defeats.
Veh is under pressure to emulate the achievements of predecessor Felix Magath, who led the Wolves to their first ever league title last season before standing down.
"Following three back-to-back defeats, a Champions League game is not easy - in particular a home game," Veh told the club's website.
"We wanted to put on a disciplined performance, but we also knew that we had a strong opponent and wanted to prevent them from getting into the game.
"We didn't have many chances on goal but we made good use of those we had and got the goals at the right time.
"This win gives us self-confidence. That was important for the Bundesliga too."
Opposition boss Ramos, taking charge of only his second game at the CSKA helm after being brought in as the replacement for Zico last week, hailed the match-winning performance of Grafite as "world class".
"It was a typical Champions League game at the very highest level," said the former Sevilla, Real Madrid and Tottenham boss.
"We didn't play badly at the beginning and managed to control the tie. When we then make three individual mistakes, we are going to be punished.
"Grafite then had every opportunity and took his chances like a real goal-getter. That was world class."
Grafite, the top goalscorer in Germany last season, played down his role in the win, insisting all that matters is the team progresses both in Europe and domestically.
"On the whole we played very well - not just me, but the complete team," said the 30-year-old. "It remains our goal to progress past the group stage in the competition.
"I'm really happy to have scored three goals that have helped the team win a very tough match.
"It was difficult for us as it was our first match in the Champions League, but I think that we played well against a good team.
"Now we have to focus on the Bundesliga."
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