Summary
Who saw this one coming then? All the form pointed to a comfortable Real Madrid win here, but after Wolfsburg endured a sticky opening 15 minutes, they executed their gameplan perfectly tonight. Playing without a traditional No9, the German side flooded midfield and hit Madrid on the counter-attack. The inclusion of Bruno Henrique, who hadn’t started a match for Wolfsburg before tonight was an inspired choice by manager Dieter Hecking, who deserved an awful lot of credit for masterminding this victory.
Bale aside, Real Madrid were awful. They had a penalty shout wrongly turned down but Benzema and Ronaldo missed golden chances at key moments of the game when the score was 0-0. Madrid scored their winner against Barcelona at the weekend with 10 men and to be honest, perhaps they would have been better it the full-backs, Marcelo and Danilo, stayed at home. They were both dreadful. To make matters worse, Benzema picked up an injury. Madrid have got to go full-throttle in the return leg, which may well suit Wolfsburg, who will surely look to do the same: sit back, absorb pressure and hit Real on the counter-attack.
Thanks for reading, and for your emails and tweets. See you next time. Bye!
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Full-time: Wolfsburg 2-0 Real Madrid
What a result!
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90 min+2: Real have resorted to lumping the ball forward, which will suit the 6ft6in Naldo and the 6ft3in Dante absolutely fine. Zidane, Ronaldo and co look devoid of ideas.
90+2' Final substitution from Wolves with @Julian_Draxler coming off for Marcel Schäfer. Into the dying seconds here! #WOBRMA
— VfL Wolfsburg EN (@VfLWolfsburg_EN) April 6, 2016
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90 min: Four minutes added on here. Ronaldo haven’t had a clear cut chance since Ronaldo’s effort 16 minutes ago. Wolfsburg well worthy of this 2-0 result.
89 min: It is a poor corner from Wolfsburg, and Real counter attack through Isco. Bale eventually gets the ball in, and he sends a lovely cross towards Jese on the penalty spot but Träsch, covering 60-70 yards to get back into position, heads the ball clear. Excellent commitment. Danilo could learn a thing or two there.
88 min: Chance for Kruse! The German gets to the byline on the left, cuts past Danilo (who has had an awful match) who half-trips Kruse. But the substitute stays on his feet inside the area, and tries to curl a shot into the roof of the net from a narrow angle. Navas is equal to it, palming it wide and the ball goes out for a corner.
86 min: Wolfsburg happy to play keep-ball, and they are doing a very good job of it too. I don’t think Real have touched the ball in two minutes, or so. Eventually Madrid win the ball back, Träsch deemed to have tripped Marcelo, who theatrically throws himself to the floor. He’s a thoroughly unlikeable chap, isn’t he?
“Marcelo must have learned from the best,” suggests Hauke Wemken.
84 min: Wolfsburg make their second change: Schurrle off for Kruse. The former Chelsea man has played well tonight but will Wolfsburg regret that miss just after the hour mark?
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82 min: There’s a streaker on the pitch. Well, he’s not really a streaker, he’s fully clothed. But he makes it the full width of the pitch before being rugby tackled to the ground.
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80 min: Wolfsburg make their first change. It seems remarkable that they have played with the same 11 for the whole game. I would love to see the running stats. Remarkable fitness. Bruno Henrique is replaced by Christian Träsch, who slots in at right back. Vieirinha will move into midfield.
78 min: Bruno Henrique, arguably Wolfsburg’s best player on his first start for the club, first gets the better of Marcelo, then Ramos and looks to be bearing down on Navas, but Casemiro does exceptionally well to come across and snuff out the danger.
76 min: Luis Gustavo is struggling a bit, look like he took a bit of knock. Hecking will be hoping he is OK to continue, the Brazilian has been immense alongside Guilavogui tonight.
74 min: Another chance for Ronaldo, another fantastic save from Benaglio. Isco threads a beautiful ball through the eye of the needle to release Ronnie, but he’s forced a bit wide, and his shot is deflected by Benaglio’s foot. Wolfsburg doing enough here, not allowing Real to score an away goal is so crucial for their chances of success in the Bernebéu.
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72 min: “Evening Michael, writes Simon McMahon. “If Wolfsburg can do this to Real, just imagine what Leicester will do to Barcelona next year. Unless of course Uefa have their way, in which case the likely English champions, not being one of the chosen clubs, will likely have to play 10 qualifying rounds just to get into the Europa League. Not that I’m cynical, of course.”
69 min: It’s all kicking off now, but for the wrong reasons. Marcelo, hang your head in shame. In an off-the-ball incident, Marcelo kicks out at Arnold, who responds by confronting the Real defender. Marcelo plants his head into the stomach of Arnold and then falls to the deck clutching his head, appealing to the linesman to send off Arnold.
. @VfLWolfsburg_EN's Maximilian Arnold with one of the most bizarre bookings you'll see... 🙈 #WOBRMA #UCL https://t.co/ayRm6iK6XW
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) April 6, 2016
Embarrassing. Comically, so. Slapstick comedy at its worst. Bale and Arnold are booked for their part in handbags in the ensuing fracas.
@michaelbutler18 Marcelo's sack-of-spuds collapse to try to get Arnold sent off was Rivaldo-esque
— Rob Jacques (@KnutCrosswords) April 6, 2016
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66 min: Golden chance for Schurrle! Ohhhhh, he should have scored. Unsurprisingly Real are undone by a counter-attack, Bruno Henrique bounding forward on the left, switching the play to Schurrle, who took one touch and blasted the ball over the bar from eight yards out. What a chance.
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64 min: Nick Tjaardstra on the email: “Sadly the Wolfsburg chants are not very exciting. ‘Auf gehts Wolfsburg schießt ein Tor’ - for example. Loosely ‘Go on Wolfsburg score a goal’”
“Those chants have been swapped for something like “Olé, olé” now,” informs Oliver Driesen.
“You’re getting sacked in the morning!” suggests Mark Readdie.
62 min: Modric is withdrawn for Isco. The Croatian is so often Real’s best player, but he has been completely anonymous tonight. I think that’s the first time I’ve typed his name since kick-off.
60 min: Ronaldo goes down in a heap under a challenge from Luis Gustavo. Ronaldo is incensed! He points to a hole halfway up his sock, screaming at the referee to book the Brazilian. Gianluca Rocchi obliges. Replays show that after an initial trip, Gustavo landed on the shin of Ronaldo. Accidentally I might add. Ronaldo lines up the free kick, exhales, and blasts his set piece over the bar. I would love to know the percentage of free kicks that Ronaldo scores. He’s no Payet, that’s for sure.
@michaelbutler18 Ronaldo, seeing as you asked, as of late last year, had only scored 2/89 free kicks. [1]
— Jamie Gordon (@jamiegordon21) April 6, 2016
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58 min: PSG have taken the lead against Manchester City. More here …
56 min: Bale is again Madrid’s creator in chief, his cross finding Ronaldo at the back post, but Rodriguez does just enough to put him off and Ronaldo can only head over. From the ensuing goal kick, Benaglio is booked for time-wasting. It is increasingly becoming attack versus defence.
54 min: Draxler finds some space on the left, cuts back inside and whips a dipping cross to the back post, which just evades Bruno Henrique’s run.
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53 min: Ronaldo is becoming increasingly frustrated out there. Guilavogui, the French international on loan from Atlético Madrid, is doing an outstanding job of screening Wolfsburg’s back four and outmuscles the Portuguese on the edge of the home penalty area.
I’ve been told by a number of you that Wolfsburg is in Lower Saxony, not Saxony as I mentioned a little while earlier. Please accept my sincerest apologies.
51 min: “I have a feeling that with all their quality, Madrid will pull a Bayern,” emails Joseph Lam. “They will have the confidence, beating Barcelona at the Camp Nou with 10 men.”
Yep, I’m inclined to agree with you Joseph, even with the score at 2-0. Real just need to score one away goal, and suddenly the whole complexion of the tie changes.
49 min: Second slip in two minutes for Ronaldo, just as the Portuguese was shaping to shoot. Somebody should really have a word with his boot manufacturers about that, whoever they are.
48 min: Bale starts the second half as he ended the first, giving Vieirinha a torrid time on Wolfsburg’s right. Bale drives to the byline cuts the ball back to Ronaldo, but Real’s No7 slips just as he’s shooting, and the ball squirms harmlessly wide.
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47 min: Real force an early corner, taken by Kroos, headed away by Dante. First Marcelo tries his luck, blocked by Vieirinha, then after a short period of play, Kroos fires a long-range effort well over the bar.
46 min: It is worth mentioning that the atmosphere inside the Volkswagon Arena is absolutely brilliant. Struggling to work out what the home crowd are actually singing about, Wolfsburg fans: are there any (translated) chants we should know about?
Peeeeep! We’re underway again in Lower Saxony.
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“38% possession but Wolfsburg know what to do with it,” emails Hauke Wemken. “Real are not being outplayed but Wolfsburg looks prepared, they are winning the ball back regularly.”
Any more thoughts? Send them through to michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet me @michaelbutler18.
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Catch up on this evening’s other match, PSG v Man City, with Jacob Steinberg.
It’s currently 1-1. Former Wolfsburg man Kevin De Bruyne fired City into a lead but a horrible defensive mix up allowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to level the scores.
Half-time: Wolfsburg 2-0 Real Madrid
What a half for Wolfsburg. They have played brilliantly going forward but are perhaps lucky that Real Madrid have not been more ruthless at the other end.
It is also worth noting that Rodriguez’s penalty was the first goal that Keylor Navas has conceded in 738 minutes of Champions League football this season. The Costa Rican needed 115 minutes to beat Jens Lehmann’s record of 853 minutes.
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45 min: One minute added on for injury time.
44 min: The slightest of pushes from Naldo on Jese allows the Spaniard to win a free kick for Real right on the edge of Wolfsburg’s box. Both Ronaldo and Bale are over it, the latter stepping up to it … but curls his effort over the wall and over the bar, before swearing very visibly in English.
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42 min: Bruno Henrique shows Marcelo a clean set of heels, but no other Wolfsburg player can keep up with the rapid Brazilian, and his cross is cut out by Pepe.
41 min: Ronaldo is playing in the centre forward position now, with Jese out on the right. Let’s hope he can give some cover to Danilo, who has been absolutely dreadful in this first half. Do not be surprised to see him withdrawn for Carvajal at half-time.
40 min: Benzema looks to be struggling here, it seems he never fully recovered from that earlier challenge from Naldo. Benzema is going to have to go off! Jese on.
38 min: Wolfsburg: 38% possession, five shots on target and two goals. Woof.
5 - Keylor Navas has now faced five shots on target against Wolfsburg, more than in any other #UCL game. Siege.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 6, 2016
36 min: Kroos is the latest to try his luck, sending a swirling low shot to the left of Benaglio, but Wolfsburg keeper does exceptionally well not only to save it, but also to catch it, with Benzema and Ronaldo lurking, waiting for a rebound.
34 min: Bale again gets free and looks to be clean through on goal, but Naldo sprints across and makes an inch-perfect slide tackle inside Wolfsburg’s area to send the ball out for a corner. That is magnificent defending.
32 min: Chance for Benzema! Bale, who been Real’s best player so far, again gets the better of Vieirinha down the left, and he whips a superb cross to the back post. Benzema gets up above Rodriguez but can only plant a powerful header a yard wide. Benaglio was motionless.
30 min: Real showed in the last round how vunerable they are to the counter-attack. The Italian side had multiple chances to put Real out – with Dzeko and Salah particularly guilty of missing golden chances – but Madrid rode their luck, which seems to have deserted them so far this evening.
28 min: Just where is Real’s midfield? Schurrle drops deep from his No9 role and is able to turn, there is not a Real player within 10 yards of the former Chelsea man. Schurrle drives right, when he had Draxler to his left, and hits a low shot from the edge of the area, which is well collected by Navas.
26 min: Vieirinha gets a whack in the mouth from Kroos, but he’s back on his feet and he’s OK to continue.
2 - Real Madrid have conceded two goals in the first 25 minutes of a UCL knockout game for the first time in their history. Hell.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 6, 2016
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GOAL! Wolfsburg 2-0 Real Madrid (Arnold 24)
So this wasn’t in the script. This is such a simple goal, and shows how soft Real can be. Draxler switches the play to Bruno Henrique, Marcelo stands off his compatriot and allows his to cross. Bruno Henrique obliges, sending a low cente to the near post. Ramos is caught on his heels, nobody tracks Arnold’s run from deep and the one-cap German international sidefoots the ball under Navas from five yards out. Simple football. Awful defending.
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22 min: Danilo is again caught out of position, and Wolfsburg springs forth once more. This time it’s Arnold, who nicks the ball of Ronaldo, skips round a slide tackle from Pepe and carries the ball a full 50 yards before a dangerous cross is well cleared by Casemiro.
20 min: Yellow card for Vieirinha. The Portuguese now has 70 minutes to avoid another booking. Bale and Ronaldo will be frothing at the mouth to get at him. By the way, Zlatan has just had a penalty saved by Joe Hart in tonight’s other Champions League encounter between PSG and Manchester City, which you can follow here.
GOAL! Wolfsburg 1-0 Real Madrid (Rodriguez 18 pen)
Navas dives left, the Swiss full-back sidefoots his penalty in the opposite corner and the home crowd go absolutely potty. Wolfsburg 1-0 up! There is some debate over whether Schurrle kicked Casemiro or the other way around, but it was a silly challenge to make regardless.
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17 min: Penalty to Wolfsburg! Draxler gets to the byline and pulls a ball back towards the penalty sport where Schurrle is waiting … the German swings his left boot but is caught by Casemiro in doing so, and Rocchi points to the spot!
14 min: This game has goals in it, and no mistake. Benzema latches onto a pass, is left one on one with Dante. One lollipop late, Dante is on his arse, Benzema is through on goal but Benaglio spreads himself and makes a wonderful save with a trailing foot and Bale skews the rebound wide! This match is wide open.
12 min: Danilo pours forward, loses the ball and suddenly Wolfsburg are able to break into space down the left. Draxler squares up to Pepe, floats a lovely cross to the back post, but Bruno Henrique’s header is a weak one, straight at Navas.
10 min: Benzema pops up in an acre of space in front of Naldo and Dante and suddenly Wolfsburg look all at sea again. The Frenchman squares the ball and a reverse pass finds Bale, but the Welsh wizard is ruled offside. Benzema took a knock there as well, he’s limping awkwardly.
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8 min: Bale swaps wings with Ronaldo and the Welshman immediately gets at Vieirinha, sprinting past the Portuguese like he isn’t there. Bale drives to the byline, looks up at fires a cross to the near post but Benaglio bravely dives on the ball in front of Ronaldo. Good goalkeeping.
6 min: Wolfsburg launch their first attack down the right, with Bruno Henrique carrying the ball well. This is his first start since signing in January, but the Brazilian looks as though he’s got bags of confidence, cutting inside Marcelo and is only stopped by a timely Casemiro interception. That’s what Real’s defensive midfielder does so well. Casemiro was outstanding against Barcelona at the weekend, he brings crucial balance to this Real midfield.
4 min: And now Real should have a penalty! A cute pass is flicked through to Bale, and the Welshman just gets his toe on the ball ahead of Luis Gustavo, who sends Bale tumbling to the turf with a very clumsy challenge. The Brazilian got all of the ball, none of the man but referee Gianluca Rocchi waves play on! You get the feeling that if that was in the Bernabéu, that would have been given. Wolfsburg living on the edge.
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2 min: Ronaldo has the ball in the net with Real’s first attack! Wait … it’s ruled offside. What a move though! Benzema dropped deep, played a lovely one-two with Kroos and a a sumptuous reverse pass found Ronaldo in the area, who calmly slipped the ball under the outrushing Benaglio. Replays show Ronaldo was half a yard off, but my my, that was so close. Real looking very slick indeed here. Ominous signs for the Wolves.
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Peeeeeeep! And we’re off!
The teams are out! Wolfsburg wearing their white shirts with green trim. Real Madrid are wearing their third kit, a navy blue number. Let’s do this!
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.@dante_bonfim dared to suggest his hair was better than @MarceloM12's... 😱😱 #UCLhttps://t.co/Equp2dED44
— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 6, 2016
I was thinking about this the other day, which team has the most outrageous hair at the moment? Roma are certainly up there (Nainggolan, El Shaarawy and up until recently Gervinho), as are Bayern (Vidal, Coman). Obviously nobody will ever beat Romania’s 1998 bleach effort, but does anyone have any other suggestions? Ideally with picture evidence. Do tweet me @michaelbutler18 with any answers.
Oh, and please send me your predictions via email michael.butler@theguardian.com.
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We’ve already mentioned Draxler and the German has been talking prior to tonight’s match: he has named former Real Madrid legend Raúl as the best player he has ever played with. The pair played together at Schalke between 2010 and 2012.
For me it was an honour to be at [Raul’s] side, he’s the best footballer that I’ve ever played with,” Draxler told Marca. “He is a friend and has given me a lot of advice, not only in football but also in life. He is 38 and has experienced many things, so I learned from him every day. We continue to speak occasionally and I’m sure he will be watching [Wolfsburg vs. Real].”
.@Julian_Draxler: "I learned from #Raul every day" https://t.co/EpCn1bURec#S04 pic.twitter.com/hlrfOtiw61
— MARCA in English (@MARCAinENGLISH) April 5, 2016
Three key clashes:
Naldo v Benzema
As mentioned, the Brazilian defender is only just back from injury and will have his hands full with Benzema, who scored a fantastic overhead kick in Saturday’s Clasico. At 6ft6in, Naldo should win the aerial battle but could be caught cold by Benzema’s movement, particularly if the Frenchman drops deep creating space for Ronaldo and Bale to move into.
Vieirinha v Ronaldo
Wolfsburg’s Portuguese is naturally a right winger but has been deployed at right back tonight to deal with his compatriot CR7. Ronaldo will fancy his chances here and should be Real’s best outlet, which is no real surprise. He has scored 13 times in the Champions League this season, which is the same number of Wolfburg’s team combined.
Draxler v Casemiro
Draxler is undoubtedly Wolfsburg’s most dangerous player, dropping into pockets of space in the No10 role, as he attempts to fill the shoes of Kevin de Bruyne, who left for Man City last summer. There might be technically better players on Madrid’s bench than Casemiro (James Rodriguez, Isco) but the Brazilian was outstanding against Barcelona and provides crucial balance to a naturally attacking midfield. Since Zidane has come in, he has made the defensive midfield position his own, starting the last six matches in all competitions.
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Interesting to see the two dressing rooms at the Volkswagen Arena: Wolfsburg home dressing room is plush, with each player getting their own area with a power socket, a locker, their own all-important tape, and of course, a mirror.
Real Madrid’s away dressing room, meanwhile, looks like the one you had back at school.
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Let’s unpack those teams then:
Naldo starts! The centre back is arguably Wolfburg’s best defender and he starts alongside his Brazilian pal Dante. He hasn’t played since February though since having surgery on his shoulder and his inclusion is certainly a gamble for Hecking. Bas Dost, on the other hand, is not fit enough to start – he’s on the bench tonight with Max Kruse, which means André Schurrle leads the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Madrid line up exactly as expected in their normal 4-3-3, Zidane’s only change from the team that beat Barcelona is at right back, with Danilo coming in for Carvajal.
Tonight’s teams
Wolfsburg: Benaglio, Vieirinha, Naldo, Dante, Rodriguez, Guilavogui, Gustavo, Bruno Henrique, Arnold, Draxler, Schurrle.
Subs: Casteels, Schafer, Ascues, Kruse, Dost, Trasch, Knoche.
Real Madrid: Navas, Danilo, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Subs: Casilla, Nacho, Rodriguez, Carvajal, Lucas, Jese, Isco.
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)
Preamble
Since their Champions League last-16 win over Gent, Wolfsburg have lost to second-from-bottom Hoffenheim, drawn at home to 14th-placed Darmstadt and lost 3-0 to Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend (so poor that Süddeutsche Zeitung felt “it could amount to a new Volkswagen scandal”) to leave them seven points adrift of the Champions League places in the Bundesliga. Daniel Caligiuri has been ruled out for the rest of the season, Nicolas Bendtner has been released and Max Kruse has been fined £20,000 for losing £59,000 in poker winnings, forced to build a chicken coop, been dropped by the German national team for grabbing a women’s mobile outside a nightclub and banned from eating Nutella. This is the first time Wolfsburg have ever reached the quarter-final stage.
Manager Dieter Hecking: “Real Madrid have a great squad with top-class players. They are one of the favourites for the title. But we will try to annoy them.”
In the same period, Real Madrid have beaten Las Palmas, thrashed Sevilla and ended Barcelona’s 39-match unbeaten run at home by coming away with a 2-1 victory at Camp Nou. Raphaël Varane’s injury aside, they have a full-strength team playing at the peak of their powers. This season in the Champions League they have kept seven clean sheets out of eight matches, more than any other team. They have scored 12 goals in their last four away matches against German opposition. This is the sixth successive reason that Real Madrid have reached this stage of the competition.
Dani Carvajal: “We’re going to win, not thinking about the second leg at our stadium. We have to go out as strong as possible for the first half hour, try to get on top of the opposition and to get a goals. We know that scoring away from home is very important so we’ll go for it.”
This could get messy, then. Let’s hope Wolfsburg do more than ‘annoy’ Real.
Kick-off: 7.45pm in London, 8.45pm in Wolfsburg
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