Napoli v Wolfsburg headline Europa

Form guide (all competitions, most recent first)

Napoli: WWWLLD

Wolfsburg: DLWWWD

Napoli need only avoid an unprecedented defeat at home against VfL Wolfsburg in their Uefa Europa League quarterfinal second leg to make it to the semifinals.

Previous meetings

Wolfsburg's 4-1 first leg loss to Napoli was the biggest home reverse in the club's European history.

Napoli's record in 17 encounters with German sides is W5 D4 L8 (W4 D1 L3 at home).

Wolfsburg accounted for FC Internazionale Milano 5-2 on aggregate in the round of 16. Their only other encounter with Italian opposition in a major Uefa competition came in the2008/09 Uefa Cup group stage when they twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at AC Milan, although they also lost 3-0 on aggregate to AC Perugia in a 2003 Uefa Intertoto Cup final.

Form guide

No side has ever progressed in a European tie after losing the home leg by more than two goals, though 13 have retrieved a two-goal deficit.

Napoli are unbeaten in 11 European home games (W9 D2) since a 3-0 loss to FC Viktoria Plzen in February 2013 – their heaviest European home defeat.

Wolfsburg are unbeaten in four on the road (W3 D1). They have won three European away games by three-goal margins: two 3-0s and one 4-1.

Napoli have not reached the quarterfinals of a major Uefa tournament since they won the Uefa Cup in 1988/89, beating VfB Stuttgart over two legs in the final.

Wolfsburg have reached this stage for the first time since they were eliminated from the 2009/10 Uefa Europa League in the quarterfinals by Fulham FC.

This season's Uefa Europa League records:

Napoli – W8 D2 L1 F23 A5

Wolfsburg – W6 D2 L3 F22 A16

Trivia and links

Napoli are one of three former Uefa Cup/Uefa Europa League winners left in the competition, along with holders Sevilla FC (2006, 2007, 2014) and FC Zenit (2008). A Napoli side led by Diego Maradona triumphed in 1989 after beating German opponents in the shape of VfB Stuttgart 5-4 on aggregate in the final (2-1 h, 3-3 a).

Wolfsburg are the least experienced side left in this season's Uefa Europa League – they have played only 61 games in Uefa competition.

Napoli and FC Dynamo Kyiv are the top-scoring sides left in the competition with 23 goals scored in 11 games since the start of the group stage: an average of 2.09 per game.

Of the sides that started out in the group stage, Napoli have conceded the fewest goals in their 11 games with five; 0.45 goals per game, or one every 198 minutes.

Napoli have also had the most shots on target (84) in this season's competition, and have hit the post nine times.

Napoli's Gonzalo Higuaín is now the second highest scorer in this season's Uefa Europa League with seven goals, one adrift of Everton FC's Romelu Lukaku and former FC Salzburg striker Alan – both of whose sides have been eliminated.

Napoli left-back Faouzi Ghoulam and Wolfsburg midfielder Josuha Guilavogui were teammates at AS Saint-Étienne from 2010–13.

Defender Henrique (Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 2008–09) is the only Napoli player with Bundesliga experience.

Napoli's José Callejon and FC Dynamo Kyiv's Andriy Yarmolenko have both hit the post three times in this season's competition.

Wolfsburg winger Maximilian Arnold could celebrate his 21st birthday at the Uefa Europa League final. He is the only player left in the competition who was born on 27 May.

Wolfsburg teenager Oskar Zawada – who has yet to play in this season's competition – is one of three Polish players who could potentially feature in the Uefa Europa League final in Warsaw, along with Lukasz Teodorczyk (FC Dynamo Kyiv) and Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla FC).

Rafael Benítez, Napoli coach

We know only too well that Wolfsburg are a very good team:they scored four goals against Bayern [in January]. We have to play as well as we did in Germany. Our opponents have formidable forwards and we have to keep an eye on them.

The club, the players and me have the same aim – we want to win, nothing else. Winning this competition would be significant because it would mean qualification for next season's Uefa Champions League.

I'm just focused on this club. When I was at Chelsea, I knew they were lining up another coach to replace me, but we still won the Uefa Europa League and finished third in the Premier League. The important thing is to concentrate on the task at hand.

Dieter Hecking, Wolfsburg coach

Obviously the result in Wolfsburg doesn't give us much room for optimism. We have a few players missing but we have an excellent squad. We are a very good team and we are able to score at any moment against any team. We can do it, but we have to be honest: it's going to be really difficult. We will do our best.

We have to avoid even the little mistakes. We can play a good match, but we could pay dearly for any slip-ups. We have hope and we will hold onto it until the very last minute. Football is beautiful and it allows miracles to happen; if Napoli aren't so focused and we play particularly well, then why not? Anything is possible.

The coaches

Napoli coach since May 2013, Rafael Benítez won two Spanish titles and the 2003/04 Uefa Cup with Valencia CF, the 2004/05 Uefa Champions League with Liverpool FC and the 2012/13 Uefa Europa League with Chelsea FC. The Spaniard lifted the Coppa Italia in his first Napoli campaign. Benítez could match Giovanni Trapattoni in becoming only the second coach to win the Uefa Cup and Uefa Europa League for a third time.

Benítez (Chelsea, 2013) is one of three coaches involved in the round of 32 who have won the Uefa Europa League since the competition took on its current incarnation, along with Zenit's André Villas-Boas (FC Porto, 2011) and Sevilla's Unai Emery (Sevilla, 2014). Benitez is the only coach in the last 32 to have won the Uefa Champions League.

At one stage a lower-league midfielder and trainee policeman, Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking is back in Europe for the first time since steering second-tier TSV Alemannia Aachen into the 2004/05 Uefa Cup group phase. More recently, he has coached Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nürnberg, taking up his current post in December 2012.

Penalty shoot-outs

Napoli's record in three Uefa competition penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2 (W1 L0 at home):

3-4 v Toulouse FC (A), 1986/87 Uefa Cup first round

4-3 v Sporting Clube de Portugal (H), 1989/90 Uefa Cup first round

3-5 v FC Spartak Moskva (A), 1990/91 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round

Wolfsburg have yet to feature in a penalty shoot-out in Uefa competition.

Possible line-ups

Napoli: Andujar; Maggio, Albiol, Britos, Ghoulam; López, Inler; Gabbiadini, De Guzman, Mertens; Zapata.

Out: Zúñiga (knee), Michu (knee), Maggio (flu)

Wolfsburg: Benaglio; Träsch, Knoche, Naldo, Rodriguez; Guilavogui, Luiz Gustavo; Caliguri, Arnold, Perišic; Dost.

Out: Schürrle (shoulder), De Bruyne (foot), Hunt (knee), Vieirinha (ill)