Everything was going well for Zinedine Zidane, right up until the opening whistle at Volkswagen Arena on Wednesday.
Problem is, they had to play a match.
[ MORE: Match recap ]
Real Madrid kept its roller coaster season going with a 2-0 loss at Wolfsburg in the first leg of its UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, failing to build off a 2-1 El Clasico win over Barcelona on Saturday.
Real conceded a penalty and looked out of sorts from the get-go. Sergio Ramos lost his mark for one goal, while the visitors put just three of their 21 shot attempts on frame.
Zidane: “We did not start with the necessary intensity for a Champions League game. That was mistake we made.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) April 6, 2016
Zidane: “Physically we have suffered, above all in the first half. We lacked, above all, mobility in all the lines, above all at the start.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) April 6, 2016
Zidane: “It is 2-0 and we must accept that. It hurts as we knew it would be difficult, but nobody, including me, expected this.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) April 6, 2016
The good news for Real is that 4-0 at home in the UEFA Champions League, with all wins being clean sheets. They’ve scored 15 goals in those matches, 2-0 over Roma, 1-0 against PSG, 4-0 vs. Schalke and 8-0 versus Malmo.
Los Merengues are far from out of it. They need a shutout or wild blowout to reach yet another semifinal, and their mercurial displays certainly make the club impossible to predict.