They did. In football you make errors and we didn’t start with intensity.
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And after some early chances they offered little as the energetic hosts ripped them apart again and again on the counter.
“What we have done recently has been positive and I’m not going to go insane”.
Ricardo Rodriguez converted a penalty in the 18th minute and Maximilian Arnold added the second in the 25th as the home side used counterattacks to devastating effect, dealing Madrid its first defeat in the competition this season.
For Wolfsburg, though, it was a glorious night in their first ever meeting with Real and their first ever Champions League quarter-final.
Real went into the game buoyed by their 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the “Clasico” on Saturday and knowing the Champions League remains their best hope of silverware this season.
“We are in a good position, we can always score a goal”, Wolfsburg’s coach Dieter Hecking said. “But we still have 90 minutes at home, we have to stay calm”.
There was no hint they would bother Real when they crashed 3-0 at Bayer Leverkusen last Friday in Germany’s top flight. She had consecutive serves of 121 miles per hour and 119 miles per hour to close out one game in the first set as fans in the stadium court marveled as the ball zoomed past Riske.
Ronaldo then got in behind the defence and fired across the empty Wolfsburg goal, but Benzema’s replacement Jese failed to connect as the Germans held on for a famous win.
“I think it was the first half that caused us problems”, Zidane said.
It was generally accepted that Real Madrid had got a relatively kind draw in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
“I have to give my team their due, they did everything we talked about, annoyed Real and put ourselves in a good position for the return leg”.
It was the first Champions League goal Navas had conceded after 738 minutes. And worse was to come for him as he was forced off with an injury after 41 minutes.
Much of the talk afterwards, though, focused on the Madrid defender Marcelo.
“I take full responsibility as the manager”.
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The Germany winger should have made it three when Draxler started a counter-attack with Henrique, but when the ball found him in space, Schuerre blasted just over with 20 minutes to go.
