Real Madrid will look to seek revenge at the Bernabeu for their humiliation in Germany where Wolfsburg secured a 2-0 win to carry a healthy lead to Madrid.
Real Madrid will look to maintain their good home form under manager Zinedine Zidane and will in fact bank on it to turn around a deficit which they were not sincerely expected to hand to the Germans in the first place.
This is a game that could easily turn into a Champions League classic, especially if Real Madrid were to score early.
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Kickoff and Live Telecast
Channel: Ten Sports (Now Known as Ten 1)
Date and Time: 13 April 2016, 12.15 AM IST
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Live Streaming: Ten Sports
Betting Odds: Real Madrid: 1/5; Draw: 7/1; Wolfsburg: 14/1
Team News
Real Madrid
With Raphael Varane back into the mix from injury, Real Madrid have no real injury concerns for this game.
Having rested a bunch of his preferred eleven for their game against Eibar, Real Madrid will look to call back into the starting line-up the likes of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos and Keylor Navas.
James Rodriguez could drop to the bench again in spite of a great showing against Eibar barring which Real Madrid should be fielding a full strength team.
Wolfsburg
Sebastian Jung will miss out for the German side as Daniel Caligiuri faces a late fitness test for this game. Dieter Hecking could look to field the same starting eleven as he did back in Germany considering their impressive showing in the first leg.
Dante should partner Naldo with Schurrle leading the attack with Draxler, Henrique and Arnold in behind him.
Probable Lineups
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo; Kroos, Modric, Casemiro; Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema
Wolfsburg (4-2-3-1): Benaglio; Vierinha, Naldo, Dante, Rodriguez; Guilavogui, Gustavo; Henrique, Arnold, Draxler; Schurrle
Form
Real Madrid
Real Madrid are in good form of late under new manager Zinedine Zidane, having lost only to Wolfsburg in their last five games.
Real Madrid also boast wins against Barcelona and Sevilla during the time having scored rather freely in these last few games. Zinedine Zidane will hope Real Madrid find their feet early as they look to dismantle their opposition in front of the expectant Bernabeu crowd.
Last 5 Matches: W-W-W-L-W ( Last match: Real Madrid 4-0 Eibar)
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg continue to have a season to forget in their domestic set-up as they drew at home to Mainz in the weekend. Their only win in the last five games has come against Real Madrid in the first leg of this very tie.
In the remaining games, Wolfsburg have lost to Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim and drawn to Darmstadt. Dieter Hecking will sincerely hope it is the European form Wolfsburg that shows up on the night.
Last 5 Matches: L-D-L-W-D ( Last match: Wolfsburg 1-1 Mainz 05)
Key Stats:
- Wolfsburg have won their last 5 UEFA Champions League matches
- There have been at an average 2.5 goals scored in Real Madrid’s last 3 UCL games
- Real Madrid have only been unable to win 1 of their 9 home games with Zidane in charge across all competitions.
- Real Madrid have scored 37 goals in their last 9 home games.
Key Battles:
Karim Benzema vs Dante
Karim Benzema will look to make amends on the night for his rather dismal away performance at Wolfsburg the week before. Benzema has been in fine form this season having scored 25 goals in 28 odd appearances and the team will turn to him apart from Ronaldo to deliver them the much-needed goals.
Benzema’s pace and movement should ideally cause enough problems for Dante and Naldo to let Ronaldo do his bit but the tidings weren’t quite as simply favourable in the first leg as the French striker was kept quiet by the two giants in front of him.
This night, however, is different with the cauldron that is the Bernabeu being the venue which may or may not be a good thing for Real Madrid, particularly if the likes of Benzema do not score early.
The smart money is that Benzema will start the scoring quickly into the game which would mean we are in for a treat.
Gareth Bale vs Ricardo Rodriguez
Gareth Bale is the sort of player whose afterburners leave a trail of fire behind him. When he decides to shift gears not many can do anything about it considering the pace and power he generates (just ask Maicon). If Real Madrid ever need him to change between gears with ease, it is on this night.
Up against him will be a behemoth not unlike himself. The much sought after Ricardo Rodriguez opened the scoring in the first leg with a well-taken penalty. However, he also did a fine job of keeping Gareth Bale in check albeit the Welshman wasn’t having the best game.
If Gareth Bale brings his A-game to the party and Ricardo Rodriguez proves exactly why he has been touted as the best left back in Europe for a couple of seasons now in this very match, there will be only one winner; The viewers.
Prediction
Real Madrid boast home dominance this year and have scored freely under Zinedine Zidane. Real have a sensational attack which needs to find their form on the night to overturn the two-goal deficit they face.
However, Wolfsburg are no pushovers and will look to score the all important away goal which would make Real’s job even more difficult. Real Madrid might win this game but you get the sneaky suspicion that Wolfsburg will walk into the next round as the night draws to a close.
Real Madrid 3-1 Wolfsburg
