By Carsten Lappe and Michael Rossmann, dpa
Wolfsburg take a surprise 2-0 lead over mighty Real Madrid into the Champions League quarter-final return leg at the Bernabeu, and the players are ready to shed their poor domestic form again to complete what would be a major upset.
Wolfsburg, Germany (dpa) – VfL Wolfsburg players are ready to forget their Bundesliga hardship again and fight for their lives over 90 or more minutes on Tuesday night to complete what would be a shock elimination of Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Wolfsburg stunned Cristiano Ronaldo and company on Wednesday with a 2-0 home victory which they now aim to protect in a hostile Bernabeu.
The Wolves were far from glorious again in a 1-1 Bundesliga draw with Mainz on Saturday which kept the 2015 runners up languishing in eighth place.
But for their Germany winger Andre Schuerrle the task against Real may actually be easier than against disciplined Mainz because the 10-time winners play a different game, and need to attack to make up the deficit.
«Against Real you have a bit more space. Maybe it suits our game better to play on the counter,» Schuerrle told Sky TV.
«It will be intense, we must be even better than in the home leg …
We will all be ready 100 million per cent on Tuesday. We will run for our lives.»
Schuerrle has raised his game in recent weeks and is in good form just as Julian Draxler; newly signed Bruno Henrique can finally play after injury and has become an instant factor; and Dutch marksman Bas Dost is also back from a foot fracture to help Wolfsburg.
Towering central defender Naldo is also back although the Brazilian did not want to attribute the upset win from Ricardo Rogriguez and Maximilian Arnold on the back line alone.
«The fact that we didn’t concede … is not just because I’m back or down to the back four. Maxi, Luiz (Gustavo) and Josuha (Guilavogui) did the job exceptionally well. Andre Schuerrle also covered a lot of ground,» Naldo said after the first leg.
«We showed that we are a real team. If we concentrate on ourselves, we can beat any opponent.»
Coach Dieter Hecking believes that his team has «a realistic chance of progressing» in a game they could even afford to lose by one goal, or even two as long as they score.
Real have won all seven home games in European knockout ties in which they lost a first leg game in Germany, progressing on four occasions including reversing a 5-1 meltdown at Moenchengladbach with a 4-0 home win in the 1985-86 UEFA Cup.
But they went out in the last two of those meetings, in the Champions League semis 2012 against Bayern Munich and 2013 against Borussia Dortmund, and in their last five overall in which they trailed after the first leg.
Wolfsburg are the second-worst away team in the Bundesliga but have done reasonably well on road in Europe, winning at CSKA Moscow in the group stage and at Gent in the last 16; and being the better team for most of the match at Old Trafford in a 2-1 loss to Manchester United.
Real are a different calibre with Ronaldo, Gerth Bale, Karim Benzema and others but Hecking insisted «I want to be in the semi-finals» and general manager Klaus Allofs also believes in the team.
«If we are as courageous in Madrid (as in Wolfsburg) we can achieve making the next round,» Allofs said.
