Kevin De Bruyne out for Wolfsburg against Napoli

Wolfsburg already faced a huge task if they wanted to overcome Napoli's commanding 4-1 lead in their Europa League quarterfinal tie, but the job just got immeasurably harder thanks to a pair of key attacking injuries. Both Kevin De Bruyne and Andre Schürrle will miss out on Thursday, with neither player even travelling to Italy with the squad ahead of the second leg at the San Paolo.

Schürrle hurt his shoulder this weekend, while De Bruyne has a badly bruised foot that's making it difficult to even walk. Neither are even certain to play this weekend at Borussia Monchengladbach, though Woflsburg aren't exactly likely to slip out of second place with their seven-point cushion over third-place Bayer Leverkusen.

De Bruyne is Wolfsburg's best player and the beating heart of their attack, acting as their playmaking hub and a major goalscoring force as well. Basically, everything Marek Hamsik is to Napoli, Kevin De Bruyne is to Wolfsburg. Schürrle is still finding his feet in this Wolfsburg side after joining in January, but it's unquestionable that he has immense talent that fits their style well and could have been very troublesome for Napoli to deal with.

It already looked like Napoli were through to the semifinals. This news just makes it all the more likely, and that's something Napoli fans will happily take.