Europa League preview

Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsburg are tasked with overturning a dismal record for German clubs in the UEFA Europa League when the group stages begin on Thursday.

No Bundesliga side has reached the final of the Europa League since the tournament was re-formatted and rebranded in 2009. The last German winners of the UEFA Cup were Schalke in 1997. It's a tournament in which Spanish and Portuguese clubs have come to dominate, leaving Germany nursing some embarrassing exits in the early rounds.

Last season, Eintracht Frankfurt carried the German flag as far as the Round of 32 stage, losing to FC Porto on away goals. The year prior, meanwhile, Stuttgart had moderately better success reaching one stage further than the Eagles.

It's a minor blip on Germany's almost flawless European record in recent years, which have seen an all-German Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and several final appearances by the Bavarians. It's a point not ignored either by Wolfsburg's sporting director, Klaus Allofs.

"In the past, German clubs have performed well in the Champions League, but not so well in the Europa League," he said. "Given how hard we have fought to play in continental competition, there is a sense of huge anticipation on our part."

'It's good to be back'

More than 1,600 days have passed since Wolfsburg last competed in European competition. At home, Dieter Hecking's men have stuttered through some dangerous opening fixtures - losing to Bayern Munich on the opening evening and successive draws with Frankfurt and Hoffenheim.

The Germans head for Merseyside to face the Premier League side Everton, while Kuban Krasnodar of Russia and France's Lille compete in the group's other match. "We have to accept that we're not the favorites in this group," Olic said. "We need to see that we finish in the top two teams."

Olic celebrated his 35th birthday, scoring for the club at Hoffenheim, but has held down that main striking position with Nicklas Bendtner still on the road to full fitness. The likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Maximilian Arnold and Luiz Gustavo make the Wolves sure contenders for the latter stages.

"Our expectations aren't that low," Allofs admitted. But while Hecking also acknowledged that Roberto Martinez's Everton are "favorites" to qualify from the group stages, Wolfsburg should still remain "competitive" in their first voyage on to the continent since 2009/10 when they enjoyed a brief stint in the Champions League.

Feel-good factor among the Foals

Elsewhere, after dismantling Schalke with a 4-1 victory on Saturday, Mönchengladbach are in red-hot form and inspired by a set of strong attackers. Max Kruse, the German international, scored on his return from injury against the Royal Blues and looks to have returned to the searing form shown last season and with SC Freiburg.

"We now want to attack on the international front," Kruse said. "The team is pumped, I'm pumped."

Gladbach's hopes don't just lie with 26-year-old Kruse. Lucien Favre boasts some impressive squad depth for the front-four attacking positions with the likes of Thorgan Hazard and Branimir Hrgota further down the pecking order.

But with Andre Hahn - another of the scorers on Saturday - and Raffael and Ibrahima Traore also in line to feature, there will be a stern test for Villarreal's defense who travel to Germany with hopes of continuing La Liga's success in the competition.

With Mainz having already dropped out in the qualifying rounds at the hands of Asteras Tripolis, Germany's remaining representatives will be hoping to avoid a group-stage exit.

Join us for coverage of both Europa League matches on Thursday evening (starting at 7 p.m. in Germany, or 1700 UTC).