With the team feeling a breath of fresh air under interim head coach Andre Schubert, Borussia Mönchengladbach will host its first European Cup match since March 1978 against English Premier League side Manchester City on Wednesday.

"It will be a day of celebration, because Borussia have a Champions League home match again," said Schubert at the pre-match press conference. "It makes no sense to enter this match being scared, just wanting to avoid damage. We didn't win the right to play in the Champions League at the county fair. This team was outstanding last term and deserves to be here."

Schubert has been promoted from the U23s to the first-team following the departure of Lucien Favre. Having lost the first five league games of the season, two wins in a week have seen the Foals climb out of the relegation places in the Bundesliga. In the absence of Tony Jantschke, Granit Xhaka has taken the responsibility of being club captain.

The Swiss midfielder impressed in Gladbach's recent wins and he has no fear of facing Manchester City. "I doubt if Manchester City even know all of our players," said the 23-year old. "But I'm sure that after the match, they'll know us all. We respect the quality of our opponent, but we are ready, we are confident, and we will give our all."

Both sides came up short on the opening matchday of the group phase. Gladbach suffered a convincing 3-0 defeat to Europa League winners Sevilla, whilst Manchester City lost at home to last year's Champions League runners-up Juventus. The eagerness to get off the mark in European competition could have both attack-minded teams producing a classic at Borussia-Park.

Manchester awaits the Wolves

Wolfsburg head coach Dieter Hecking has said the pressure lies with Manchester United in their head-to-head at Old Trafford. Despite their 5-1 trouncing at Bayern Munich last week, Hecking's dropped another two points at the weekend, drawing 1-1 at home to Hannover. The Champions League offers respite to a challenging league campaign.

"The pressure lies with United because they lost the first game," insisted Hecking. "We only want to ramp up the pressure on Wednesday. We can play so much better than we did against Hannover, and we don't need to tell the players that."

Striker Max Kruse is confident the Wolves can succeed in the Champions League after a 1-0 win over CSKA Moscow on matchday one. "We have a lot of quality so we can certainly cause some problems," he added. "We are here to play successful football, not to be amazed by the surroundings," noted Hecking when asked about playing at Old Trafford.

Wolfsburg's German internationals will come up against a familiar face in the shape of world champion Bastian Schweinsteiger. Germany's new captain has made seven Premier League appearances this season and has become a popular figure among the Red Devils for his tenacious midfield performances.

"It's not easy to play here for the first time, especially in the Champions League," Schweinsteiger told reporters. "You can feel the power of the supporters and it's good for us but we have to play well and that's the most important thing. It's a big stadium and a big honour to play here for United in that stadium especially in the Champions League."

Van Gaal will be without Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia, but the form of Anthony Martial - three goals in three EPL games - will be a source of vindication for the former Bayern Munich coach.

United lost 2-1 at PSV Eindhoven on matchday one and will be looking to avoid a second defeat in their first post-qualifier Champions League home match since the 1-1 tie with Bayern in April 2014.