BARCELONA — Real Madrid is determined to create an intimidating atmosphere for visitor VfL Wolfsburg as it tries to overturn a two-goal deficit in Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
“Tuesday will be like a war, with 80,000 spectators; we are going to try and walk all over Wolfsburg,” said defender Dani Carvajal. “We’re going to play to the death and with 80,000 souls behind us we will do it,” added winger Lucas Vazquez.
Forward Cristiano Ronaldo told the club website: “We need to have cold hearts and play with patience and know how to suffer. Getting through is our big objective, it’s the only thing that will let the players and fans leave the stadium happy.”
Madrid is third in La Liga and enjoyed a 4-0 win over Eibar Saturday to close the gap with leader Barcelona to four points, lifting its confidence after the shock 2-0 defeat at Wolfsburg last Wednesday.
The German side is eighth in the Bundesliga and was held 1-1 by Mainz Saturday. Coach Dieter Hecking made four changes from the team that beat Madrid and was without Julian Draxler, the outstanding player last week, through suspension.
Real, 10-time European champion, has a history littered with great comebacks at the Bernabeu, beginning with a 5-1 win over Derby County in the 1975 European Cup after it had lost 4-1 in England.
Madrid beat Inter Milan 3-0 to reach the final of the 1985 UEFA Cup after losing the semifinal first leg 2-0, when midfielder Juanito famously warned Inter: “Ninety minutes in the Bernabeu is a very long time.”
Madrid also staged successful second-leg comebacks against Celtic, Anderlecht, Red Star Belgrade and Borussia Moenchengladbach but its reputation as miracle workers is waning and it last overturned a deficit in 2002 when it beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Bernabeu in a quarterfinal second leg on its way to winning the trophy.
Since then, Madrid has lost eight first-leg games in the Champions League knockout stages and failed to progress every time, exiting last season’s tournament to Juventus 3-2 on aggregate and managing only a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 semifinals after losing the first leg 4-1.
Yet Madrid’s self belief remains strong.
City without Kompany
against PSG
Manchester City will be without captain Vincent Kompany when the team faces Paris Saint-Germain for a spot in the Champions League semifinals.
The defender has failed to recover from a right knee injury with the quarterfinal even at 2-2 heading into the second leg in Manchester Tuesday.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini says Kompany is not 100 percent so it’s “not possible” he can play, but says “we have a lot of trust in the squad.”
City still eyes an important step in its transformation into one of the world’s leading clubs by reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time.
For three successive seasons since first qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition, City was frustrated in its attempts to make significant progress.
PSG coach Laurent Blanc was dismayed at conceding a scrappy second goal in the first leg and at losing defender David Luiz and midfielder Blaise Matuidi through suspension.
One bonus could be the return of Marco Verratti who is recovering faster than expected from a groin injury.
Blanc made nine changes, resting a number of players including striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for its 2-0 victory over Guingamp in Ligue 1 Saturday.
PSG needs a similar result to go one step further this time. — Agencies
