This Wednesday, two teams with vastly contrasting fortunes will meet for the first time in the Champions League. One one side of the pitch will be a team floundering in the domestic league and have never reached this stage in their entire history. And on the other will be a side who are no strangers to Europe's premier continental competition and are into the quarter-finals for a sixth year in a row.
Wolfsburg
They might have huffed and puffed as they labored to a 4-2 aggregate win over Belgian side Gent in the round of 16, but Wolfsburg got the job done to book their spot in the quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history. However, things have not looked so rosy for Dieter Hecking's men in the Bundesliga. Die Wölfe currently sit in eighth place and have picked up just one point from their past three matches.
And given that they were dumped out of the DFB-Pokal by Bayern Munich in the second round this past October, the only chance of silverware - on paper at least - Wolfsburg have this season will be to win the Champions League.
Unfortunately for them, their road to the final Milan looks like it will be ending over the next week. Despite topping a group that included Premier League giants Manchester United, Hecking's men have been given a less than favorable tie with Real Madrid being their next opponent. Whilst there are no "easy" teams at this stage, the ten-time Champions League winners certainly will not be on anyone's wish list, and barring a catastrophic collapse of epic proportions, Real Madrid will be the team to book their spot in the semi-finals.
Having suffered a heavy 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen last weekend, Wednesday's hosts now are without a win since March 5th, when they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1. Although Zinedine Zidane's team have only kept one clean sheet in their past 10 away matches across all competitions since his arrival, this will come as little consolation for Hecking's side, who have struggled horribly in the absence of key defender Naldo.
The Brazilian international has been ruled out for the rest of the season, further denting their already slim chances at staging an upset, and they have been robbed of another defensive option with Sebastian Jung also out for the remainder of this campaign. Given this, it is no surprise that domestically, Wolfsburg have scored only two more goals than they have conceded and Hecking will be facing some major selection headaches as he tries to put together a make-shift back-line for this upcoming match.
Real Madrid
For all intents and purposes, this season's edition of the Champions League has been a breeze for Real Madrid. The capital giants mostly cruised through their group stage matches and received an easy round of 16 draw in Serie A side Roma. And now, in the quarter-finals, Lady Luck has again smiled on Zidane's team as they have avoided tougher opponents like fellow favorites Bayern Munich and Barcelona, or even dark horse contenders PSG and Atletico Madrid.
Nonetheless, it does take more than sheer luck to successfully navigate through eight European matches and concede just three goals - especially considering that they did face PSG twice earlier this season. In fact, to date, the only side to have scored against Real Madrid in the Champions League has been Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk. And naturally, a key part of that solid defensive record has been the strong performances of Keylor Navas between the posts. The Costa Rican international so far has kept clean sheets in all eight of his Champions League appearances, as he was not in goal for that game against Shakhtar.
Having earned a confidence-boosting win over the Blaugrana in Saturday's Clasico tie, Zidane's men will be certainly fancying their chances at the Volkswagen Arena against a side who have been in poor form as of late. Publicly, Real Madrid players might be claiming that every side at this juncture is a tough opponent, as no one wants to disrespect their opponent before a match. But one can definitely bet that privately, the team and their legions of fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief with this pairing as they already are probably looking ahead to who they will face in the semi-finals.
Still, this is the Champions League, and unexpected things have happened in past contests. In fact, last season, Schalke - a team Real Madrid had crushed 9-2 on aggregate during the 2013/2014 quarter-finals - gave them a royal scare in the round of 16. Despite losing the first leg 2-0, die Königsblauen rallied back to pull off an impressive 4-3 win on the night, which nearly dumped the Spanish giants out of the competition.
So, given that experience, expect Wednesday's visitors to be taking this first leg very seriously, especially as they hope to head back to Madrid with at least one - or more - away goals in hand. And to swing things even moer in their favor, Zidane has a full-strength squad to choose from, with only young French defender Raphael Varane likely missing out.
Which channel is broadcasting Wolfsburg vs Real Madrid on TV or Online?
Arguably, this is the David versus Goliath tie of this season's Champions League quarter-finals. Still, Wolfsburg fans will be in full force behind their team as they hope to cheer on the underdogs to what would be a very impressive victory against a vastly more-experienced and better-equipped Real Madrid side.
Too far away to make it to the Volkswagen Arena? No worries. LiveSoccerTV.com has put together plenty of selections to make sure you do not miss out on this first-ever match between Wolfsburg and Real Madrid.
Here are some choices for fans residing elsewhere in Germany and in the following countries:
- In the USA at 14.45 EST on: Fox Soccer 2GO USA, Fox Sports GO, WATCH ESPN, Fox Sports 2 USA, ESPN Deportes TV
- In Germany at 20.45 CET on: TeleClub Sport Live, ORF 1, Sky Go Deutschland, Sky Sport 2/HD, Sky Sport 1/HD, SRF zwei
- In Spain at 20.45 CET on: beIN Sports Spain, beIN Sports Connect S.P.
- In the UK at 19.45 BST on: BT Sport 2, BT Sport Live Streaming
- In Canada at 14.45 ET on: beIN Sports Canada, beIN SPORTS CONNECT Canada
Live elsewhere? Check out our special Wolfsburg vs Real Madrid broadcast page for viewing times and options for your current location.
*Note: Live broadcast data is subject to change*
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
