Real Madrid, fresh from a morale-boosting victory against arch-rivals Barcelona last weekend, will square it off with Wolfsburg on Wednesday at Volkswagen Arena in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie.
Event Details:
Tournament: UEFA Champions League quarterfinal (leg 1)
TV Schedule/ Start Time: ESPN Deportes, Fox Sports 2 USA at 2:45 p.m US ET
Live Stream: Fox Sports 2GO, ESPN Watch for US viewers; check live soccer TV for UK, Canada and other countries
Additional Info: Starting Lineup and Stats - ESPN FC Gamecenter
What's on the line: Real Madrid is playing some really good football recently. Their 2-1 victory over Barcelona gave them reasons to keep grinding through the season despite a faulty start. While this is the first time Madrid will be facing the German club, they are very much aware how deadly this team could be if they don't check their key guys. Casimiro, who is playing really well of late, knows this well.
"Every [side] Real Madrid could have faced would have been difficult because there are no easy teams," Casimiro said in the press conference via Goal.com "We need to respect Wolfsburg because we know they have some great players, but we have to respect them while playing our own game, our happy football.
Real Madrid is putting at stake their five-game winning streak. As for Wolfburg, a victory over the Los Blancos will be huge for the club, who already made history this year by reaching the quarterfinal of the Champions League. In four matches against Spanish club, Wolfburg scored a whooping 17 goals - that's an average of over four goals per match.
Prediction: Real Madrid XI have been smoking their competition the past five games. Although they are still levels below their full potential, there's no debate this Real Madrid squad is enough to beat a Wolfburg that has been shaky in domestic play.
Predicted Winner: Real Madrid 3-0