Soccer Champions League

Wolfsburg Will Overcome Tragic Death of Junior Malanda for Champions League Berth

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By @DFresh39

Junior Malanda Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg English Twitter Account

The tragic death of 20-year-old Junior Malanda has sent shockwaves through the soccer world. After delaying their trip by one day, his Wolfsburg team went through with their trip to South Africa to prepare for the second half of the Bundesliga season. They will try to move on and hold down the second spot in the league, thus securing a Champions League spot. They are a very good team hit by tragedy and they will dedicate the rest of the season to Malanda and honor his young life by how they perform on the field.

Malanda died in a car accident on Saturday after he was thrown from his car when it collided with a tree. Malanda was not wearing his seatbelt. Wolfsburg sporting executive Klaus Allofs said it was a tough decision to continue with the planned training trip. Allofs added that, “He [Malanda] wanted success and he wanted to achieve great things with us. That is the last thing we can do for him.” Head coach Dieter Hecking was in tears at the coinciding press conference.

Fans have created a memorial outside of Wolfsburg’s stadium. Other teams in the Bundesliga have held a moment of silence prior to training sessions this week. Belgium teammates Vincent Kompany and Romelu Lukaku took to social media to express their sadness.

The burden is obvious for Wolfsburg as they try to hold on to the second spot in the league. They are six points clear of third-place Bayer Leverkusen and face first-place Bayern Munich in the first match back from winter break on January 30. They have four matches in the first two weeks back from break and then must focus on the next round of the Europa League. It will be non-stop from the end of this month until May 23. Luckily, the team has two weeks to regroup mentally and emotionally.

Wolfsburg has built plenty of confidence as a team. The death of Malanda is a crushing blow that will unite a team that was already on the same page. Now they have motivation to possibly win a trophy this season and guarantee a berth in the biggest European competition for next season. Malanda’s death will be heavy on their hearts for some time, but Wolfsburg will do their best to honor his legacy.

Douglas Smith is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DFresh39, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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