Wolfsburg out to show it can ‘compete’ with Real Madrid

[Torrent Disney]

Real Madrid and Wolfsburg are coming from vastly differing backgrounds ahead of their first meeting in Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg in Germany.

Ten-time winner Madrid is on a six-game winning run, the latest a morale-boosting come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Barcelona in Saturday’s “clasico” while reduced to 10 men that ended its old rival’s Spanish record unbeaten streak at 39 games across all competitions.

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Wolfsburg slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen on Friday, its third Bundesliga game without a win, leaving the side seven points off the last Champions League qualification place after a lackluster domestic season.

Not only recent history is against the Volkswagen-backed club. Wolfsburg, in the knockout stages for the first time, is playing its first-ever European Cup quarterfinal. Madrid will be in its 33rd.

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Despite its recent good form, Madrid’s best chance to salvage an otherwise disappointing season remains in the Champions League. Zinedine Zidane’s side is still third in the Spanish league, seven points behind Barcelona, which also has a better head-to-head record.

Some things to know ahead of Wednesday’s game in Wolfsburg:

WOLFSBURG WILTING

Despite progressing in Europe’s premier competition in only the club’s second Champions League appearance, Wolfsburg has disappointed in the German league after finishing runner-up last season, when it also claimed the German Cup.

Ten losses and eight draws in 28 Bundesliga games suggest Wolfsburg is far from formidable and that the team was perhaps over-reliant on Kevin De Bruyne, sold in the summer to Manchester City. The Belgian playmaker had chipped in 13 goals and set up 27 more in 52 Bundesliga games for the side.

“The bottom line is that we’re not playing like a Champions League team in the Bundesliga,” said sporting director Klaus Allofs, who expects his side to make amends Wednesday. “It’s the mark of a top team that it can set a marker in quality no matter what the competition. I want that we show against Real Madrid that we can compete at this level. If Real are a number too big, we have to accept it. But we have to go to our limits; I expect it. And then a lot is possible in football,” Allofs said.