Real eye Wolfsburg scalp

Manchester City players at a training session in Manchester on Tuesday, the eve of their Champions League quarter-final first leg match against Paris Saint-Germain. (Photo: AFP)

Real Madrid star Gareth Bale says their El Clasico win over Barcelona has given the Spanish giants the perfect confidence booster for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final, first-leg, at Wolfsburg.

Real used to have a terrible record away to German opposition in Europe, but their run to winning the 2014 final, when they claimed their tenth European crown, changed all that.

Having thrashed Schalke 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen two years ago in the last 16, they routed Bayern Munich 4-0 at the Allianz Arena in the semi-finals en route to beating Atletico Madrid in the final.

This time around, Zinedine Zidane’s Real are clear favourites for the quarter-final first leg at Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena, especially after Saturday’s 2-1 victory when Cristiano Ronaldo scored their late winner at arch rivals Barcelona with 10 men.

Madrid are in the quarter-finals for the sixth time in a row.

They are on their best run of the season after ending arch rivals Barca’s 39-game unbeaten run with their sixth succesive win and are in no mood to suffer an upset in Wolfsburg.

“I said mentally this win (against Barcelona) puts us in a great position, but we have to keep working hard,” said Bale.

Real’s top form is juxtaposed by Wolfsburg’s recent results with the German Cup holders winless in their last three games since beating Gent at home in the last 16.

They were thumped 3-0 at Bayer Leverkusen last Friday, causing director of sport Klaus Allofs to confess they are not living up to the their Champions League status in Germany’s top flight.

Nevertheless, the hosts have a chance to pull off a shock victory having reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League for the first time.

City face PSG test In Paris, when nouveaux riches Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City meet at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the quarter-final, they will do so as two of the ogres of the modern game.

City are in the last eight for the first time while PSG are there for the fourth year in succession.

The stakes are high, and it will all be a far cry from the only previous meeting of the teams, only a little over seven years ago.

PSG had come close to being relegated from Ligue 1 the previous season but did win the League Cup and lost to champions Lyon in the French Cup final.

Both teams went on to reach the quarter-finals, City losing to Hamburg and PSG to Dynamo Kiev, but it was an instantly forgettable encounter.