- The win against Barcelona on Saturday was a big boost to the morale of Zinedine Zidane's side, but it now means little as they lie on the verge of Champions League elimination
Ecstacy and agony for Real Madrid. All the joy and the good work from the Clasico win away to Barcelona on Saturday seems irrelavant now, the team's Champions League hopes hanging in the balance after a dreadful defeat away to Wolfsburg. What a waste.
Madrid had looked to have turned a corner with their victory at Camp Nou. It was a result that lifted the entire club and was supposed to be the catalyst for bigger and better things. Four days later, however, it all went wrong for Zinedine Zidane's side.
Real dominated the early exchanges in Germany but saw a Cristiano Ronaldo effort ruled out for offside and then conceded a contentious penalty when Casemiro was adjudged to have fouled Andre Schurrle.
Ricardo Rodriguez scored from the spot and seven minutes later Wolfsburg went two up through Maximilian Arnold after a fine run from Julian Draxler down the left-hand side where he was afforded all the space he needed by Danilo.
The Brazilian was left out of the Clasico clash on Saturday and Madrid were much more organised in defence. Caught out of position time and again on Wednesday, though, that indiscipline unbalanced the entire Real back line. And Casemiro, perhaps affected by the penalty decision, was also much less effective than against Barca.
In attack, Ronaldo missed a couple of excellent chances, Karim Benzema limped off after suffering a blow to the knee before half-time that makes him doubtful for the return and Gareth Bale impressed on the left but was under-used by his team-mates.
In any case, Real remain a counter-attacking team essentially and struggle to break down teams that sit back. This is nothing new and has been an issue for years, something partially solved by Carlo Ancelotti but a recurring problem that will not go away.
James and Isco, both benched for the Clasico, could have given Madrid more creativity and guile in midfield against a different type of rival, but were left out and not introduced until the second half (the Spaniard after 64 minutes, the Colombian with only five left on the clock).
"If we lack intensity, then these things can happen," Zidane said after the match. Although he added: "I'm very proud of my players' performance."
Perhaps the lack of intensity can be explained by the monumental effort exerted at Camp Nou on Saturday to win a game that was extremely important to raise morale but which mattered little in the end because La Liga is almost certainly impossible for Real now.
Asked about the inclusion of Danilo in place of Dani Carvajal, Zidane said: "I picked Danilo to rest Dani, with the idea of having a bit more offensively. I asked the same of Danilo that I ask of Dani."
But it didn't work and on this evidence, the Frenchman will surely be reluctant to rely on the Brazilian in another big game - and certainly not next Tuesday in the return match at the Santiago Bernabeu.
So after beating Barca at Camp Nou on Saturday Madrid fell to the eighth-placed team in Germany on Wednesday night, and now need a huge reaction to turn this tie around.
"I want to watch the game and see what happened," Zidane said. "We lacked movement and intensity. We haven't got what we came here for. Now we have an opportunity to change all that in the second leg. This is the Champions League, it is difficult."
It is, yet Madrid were paired with arguably the weakest team left in the competition and even the Germans admitted ahead of the tie that they had little chance of progressing to the last four.
Now, though, Real's future in the competition is up in the air when they should really have a foot in the last four. It is not good enough and is especially disappointing for Zidane et al after all the optimism from the win at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Ecstacy and agony for Real Madrid. All the joy and the good work from the Clasico win away to Barcelona on Saturday seems irrelavant now, the team's Champions League hopes hanging in the balance after a dreadful defeat away to Wolfsburg. What a waste.
Madrid had looked to have turned a corner with their victory at Camp Nou. It was a result that lifted the entire club and was supposed to be the catalyst for bigger and better things. Four days later, however, it all went wrong for Zinedine Zidane's side.
Real dominated the early exchanges in Germany but saw a Cristiano Ronaldo effort ruled out for offside and then conceded a contentious penalty when Casemiro was adjudged to have fouled Andre Schurrle.
Ricardo Rodriguez scored from the spot and seven minutes later Wolfsburg went two up through Maximilian Arnold after a fine run from Julian Draxler down the left-hand side where he was afforded all the space he needed by Danilo.
The Brazilian was left out of the Clasico clash on Saturday and Madrid were much more organised in defence. Caught out of position time and again on Wednesday, though, that indiscipline unbalanced the entire Real back line. And Casemiro, perhaps affected by the penalty decision, was also much less effective than against Barca.
In attack, Ronaldo missed a couple of excellent chances, Karim Benzema limped off after suffering a blow to the knee before half-time that makes him doubtful for the return and Gareth Bale impressed on the left but was under-used by his team-mates.
In any case, Real remain a counter-attacking team essentially and struggle to break down teams that sit back. This is nothing new and has been an issue for years, something partially solved by Carlo Ancelotti but a recurring problem that will not go away.
James and Isco, both benched for the Clasico, could have given Madrid more creativity and guile in midfield against a different type of rival, but were left out and not introduced until the second half (the Spaniard after 64 minutes, the Colombian with only five left on the clock).
"If we lack intensity, then these things can happen," Zidane said after the match. Although he added: "I'm very proud of my players' performance."
Perhaps the lack of intensity can be explained by the monumental effort exerted at Camp Nou on Saturday to win a game that was extremely important to raise morale but which mattered little in the end because La Liga is almost certainly impossible for Real now.
Asked about the inclusion of Danilo in place of Dani Carvajal, Zidane said: "I picked Danilo to rest Dani, with the idea of having a bit more offensively. I asked the same of Danilo that I ask of Dani."
But it didn't work and on this evidence, the Frenchman will surely be reluctant to rely on the Brazilian in another big game - and certainly not next Tuesday in the return match at the Santiago Bernabeu.
So after beating Barca at Camp Nou on Saturday Madrid fell to the eighth-placed team in Germany on Wednesday night, and now need a huge reaction to turn this tie around.
"I want to watch the game and see what happened," Zidane said. "We lacked movement and intensity. We haven't got what we came here for. Now we have an opportunity to change all that in the second leg. This is the Champions League, it is difficult."
It is, yet Madrid were paired with arguably the weakest team left in the competition and even the Germans admitted ahead of the tie that they had little chance of progressing to the last four.
Now, though, Real's future in the competition is up in the air when they should really have a foot in the last four. It is not good enough and is especially disappointing for Zidane et al after all the optimism from the win at Camp Nou on Saturday.
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