04.04.2016 » Is Wolfsburg a poisoned apple for Real Madrid?
Last March 18, the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw in Nyon revealed us that Real Madrid and Wolfsburg would soon cross their paths and fight for a spot in the competition's semi-finals. At that moment, pretty much everyone immediately thought that the Merengues had gotten extremely lucky with the draw. Given the names of the other clubs still present in these late rounds and according to several sports bookmakers like 888sport, Wolfsburg is in fact the weakest side still alive in the competition, with a payoff to lift the Champions League trophy in May set at a ratio of 66. However and as everyone should already know by now, there's not such thing as an easy tie in the Champions League quarter-finals. If the Germans managed to earn their spot in this round of the competition, that's because they have beaten very good sides in their journey and they deserve to be where they are. In a season filled with incomprehensible mistakes in Madrid, the Merengues' biggest regret thus far would be to take their opponents lightly.
Real Madrid vs Wolfsburg - UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals Promo:
Real Madrid couldn't have asked for a better time to see the UEFA Champions League action return. Coming off a spectacular 1-2 win at Camp Nou, where they managed to beat their archrivals Barcelona and finished the game with only 10 men on the field, it's safe to say that the Merengues are going to be extremely motivated for the upcoming weeks.
Being 7 points behind Barça in La Liga (they were 10 before the Clasico), and seeing their journey in the Copa del Rey coming to an end due to an administrative error still in the round-of-32 stage, all this understandably led Real Madrid to focus almost exclusively in their Champions League agenda. They're huge favorites to eliminate Wolfsburg and at least reach the competition's semi-finals, with bookmakers only willing to pay up to 13% on the event that they do get past Wolfsburg.
In Europe, the Merengues have been solid as a rock, after qualifying first in a group where they faced PSG, Shakhtar and Malmo, completing the task with 5 wins and 1 draw. Following the group stages, Zidane's men had AS Roma thrown at them and easily dispatched the Italian side with double 2-0 wins. In total, that's 7 wins and 1 draw out of 8 games thus far, with Real Madrid having already scored 23 goals and only conceding 3. Cristiano Ronaldo is also the competition's top scorer with 13 goals and we all know how he's always thirsty for more. He's currently only 4 goals short of his own personal record in the competition (17 goals), set precisely 2 seasons ago.
On the other side of the barricade there's the "ugly duck" of this UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Wolfsburg may not have had the toughest of the journeys possible in their way to this round of the competition, but they did get through on the top spot of a group formed by Manchester United, PSV and CSKA, which necessarily means that they do have enough quality to surprise a top side in Europe. In the last-16 stages, they didn't find any difficulties to get past Gent and went on to beat the Belgiums twice.
Nevertheless and looking only at their domestic form, this season has been everything but brilliant for this Wolfsburg side. After finishing 2nd in the Bundesliga last season, the Germans are now 8th in the league, having won the same amount of games as the ones they lost (10). They are also out of the German Cup, following a 3-1 defeat to the hands of Bayern Munich. Summing up and similarly to what's happening with Real Madrid, they have all their hopes pinned on the Champions League.
Even though odds appear to be stacked against them, Wolfsburg has several reasons to believe they can end up shocking Europe in this tie against Real Madrid. One of those reasons is the simple fact they play first in Germany at the Volkswagen Arena and that's a ground where they have won all their 4 games in Europe this season, including a crucial 3-2 victory over Manchester United, back in December of 2015. On top of that, players like Bendtner, Bas Dost, Draxler and Andre Schurrle are certain to be a constant threat to Real Madrid.
If you are feeling lucky this week, why not making the most of 888sport's first bet bonus for new clients, where they are reward you by tripling your winnings. With all the games in Europe scheduled for the next few days and a Wolfsburg vs Real Madrid going down this Wednesday, there's just no excuse to wait any longer...
Cristiano Ronaldo next game with Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League is on April 6 of 2016, against Wolfsburg. You can watch Juventus live stream, Wolfsburg vs Real Madrid, Barça vs Atletico Madrid, PSG vs Manchester City, West Ham vs Arsenal, and Bayern Munchen vs Benfica, all matches provided from our sports live game pages.
Real Madrid next game:
Wolfsburg vs Real Madrid kick-off time (06-04-2016):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 02:45
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 01:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:15
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 17:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 16:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 13:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / uefa.com / realmadrid.com / vfl-wolfsburg.de
