Champions League: Real Madrid crash at Wolfsburg

Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (left) vies for the ball with PSG’s David Luiz at the Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on Wednesday. (Photo: AFP)

Zinedine Zidane admitted Real Madrid suffered an El Clasico hangover as they crashed to a 2-0 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg, defeat at Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

Just five days after ending Barcelona’s 39-game unbeaten run with a 2-1 away win, Real were humbled as Wolfsburg ignored their struggling mid-table form in Germany’s top flight.

Real never recovered as first-half goals from Swiss defender Ricardo Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold put the hosts 2-0 up at the Volkswagen Arena with 25 minutes gone.

Wolfsburg now have the upper hand ahead of Tuesday’s return leg at the Bernabeu. “I’m not happy, above all with the first-half. This can happen if you don’t play with intensity from the start,” said coach Zidane, who made just one change from the team which beat Barca.

“We wanted to play here just like we did on Saturday, it was an intensive game for us (in Barcelona) and we were flat in the first-half here.

“Now we have a chance in the return leg and it’s good we’ve got a game in three days (at home to Eibar) to get over this defeat.

“We had our problems, not just in the intensity, but also in our movement.

Zidane even said he was proud of his players and took full responsibility for the result. “I have to find the reasons for the defeat and the solutions.”

Real’s six-game winning streak was ended as Wolfsburg picked up their first win in four games since beating Gent in the last 16 of the tournament.

It was a poor performance from Real’s star forwards as Gareth Bale was kept quiet and Cristiano Ronaldo rarely shook of his markers.

France forward Karim Benzema went off on 41 minutes after a knock.

Bale was left frustrated at not being awarded a first-half penalty after a heavy challenge in the area from Luiz Gustavo.

Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking gambled by starting inexperienced Brazilian Bruno Henrique on the right wing, who set up Arnold’s goal.

Centre-back Naldo played his first game since dislocating his shoulder in February and helped subdue the Real attack.

There was little hint of the drama to come when Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo put the ball in the Wolfsburg net after just 74 seconds, but the offside flag went up.

City’s slapstick night in Paris In Paris, away goals by Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho handed Manchester City a 2-2 first-leg draw at Paris Saint-Germain to give the English side the edge in their quarter-final tie.

On a night that will be remembered for some comical defending and a Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty that was saved by City goalkeeper Joe Hart, the Premier League side twice punished mistakes by their hosts.

De Bruyne put City ahead on 38 minutes, only for Ibrahimovic to level after an embarrassing mix-up in the visitors’ defence soon after.

Adrien Rabiot then put PSG ahead just before the hour.