REAL MADRID-WOLFSBURG
"Today you'll be KO-naldo"
German media are not convinced of Madrid's ability to turn the tie around with German daily Bild alluding to the Spanish teams elimination.
Real Madrid face German side Wolfsburg tonight in the return leg of the Champions League quarter final second leg and trail 2-0. German media outlets are less than convinced that Zidane's side are capable of making it through into Friday's draw.
The headline in German daily Bild is reflective of this sentiment: “Today you'll be K.O.Naldo”. The German paper does tone-down the pre-match euphoria when reviewing statistics of previous comebacks in Champions League ties. They also focus on the last time a Real Madrid side comeback from an adverse first leg defeat was in 2002. Madrid lost 2-1 in Germany to Bayern but goals from Ivan Helguera and Guti saw Madrid through to the next stage of the competition with a 2-0 win at the Bernabeu .
French sports daily L’Equipe focuses on Madrid's failure to pull around a tie since 2002 with an article entitled: “The comeback failures since 2002”. It cites ties against Arsenal (2006), Roma (2008), Liverpool (2009), Lyon (2010), Barça (2011), Bayern (2012), Borussia Dortmund (2013) and Juventus last season as examples where Madrid bottled the second leg and were eliminated.
English daily The Mirror lead with: “Wolfsburg's intention is to irritate Real Madrid and secure a semi-final passage”. The add that “Manchester United, PSV, CSKA, Gent and Real Madrid have seen that the German side in the Champions League completion bears little resemblance to that which is currently 8th in the Bundesliga”.
