Zidane blames El Classico hangover for defeat to Wolfsburg, Bale cries foul over unrewarded penalty
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was upset that his team couldn't maintain the same intensity which they showed in the El Classico against Barcelona.
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. While striker Gareth Bale was left fuming after he wasn't awarded a penalty in the first half.
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. We didn't expect the 2-0 defeat and we need to analyse where we went wrong and make corrections," the Frenchman said
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," he said.
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 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. "I felt I got to the ball first and he hit me, so it is obviously frustrating, but we have another game," said the Welshman. "We just have to make sure now that in the return we win by three goals."