What we learned from Wolfsburg stunning Real Madrid 2-0 in the Champions League

Wolfsburg defied all the odds on Wednesday when they upended Real Madrid to the tune of a 2-0 Champions League quarterfinal win in Germany. The shocking result was the result of an incredible first half from Wolfsburg, followed by a solid defensive showing in the second that left the Spaniards stymied. Real Madrid now need three goals in the second leg if they’re going to find a way to advance in the Champions League.

The match started with Real Madrid in full control of proceedings, getting forward at will and dominating the early chances. The pace of Gareth Bale and the skill of Cristiano Ronaldo out wide gave Wolfsburg a lot of troubles early on, continuously exploiting gaps in their back line. Wolfsburg were able to weather the early storm, though, and once they got back on their feet and started launching out on the counter attack, you started to understand how Wolfsburg got this far in the Champions League.

One such counter taught Real Madrid that lesson too, when a long cross from Vieirinha picked out Julian Draxler on the left. Draxler cut in, making Danilo look foolish in the process, and centered the ball for Andre Schürrle -- who promptly got knocked down on a desperation move from Casemiro, handing Wolfsburg a penalty. Ricardo Rodriguez took it perfectly, sending Keylor Navas the wrong way and giving Wolfsburg a 1-0 lead only 18 minutes into the match.

It went from bad to worse for Madrid in a hurry, when just seven minutes later their defense went completely to sleep at a brutal moment. Max Arnold went on a run straight up the middle of Real Madrid’s defense without the ball while Bruno Henrique carried it up the right side. As Henrique sent in his cross, Arnold coasted straight past both Casemiro and Sergio Ramos, with neither player seeming to notice him or particularly react to the ball. Arnold’s goal came far too easily, and was the result of an absolutely shocking defensive display for Madrid.

The bad news kept coming for Real Madrid in the first half -- Karim Benzema went down with a knee injury late in the half, forcing him out of the game. Benzema had been a big part of Madrid’s early attacking successes, with the attention he was demanding of Wolfsburg’s defense opening up a lot of opportunities for his teammates to exploit. Benzema himself had struggled in front of goal, though, missing on a couple of clear chances that would have put Real Madrid in a much better position.

Still, you could clearly tell that Madrid missed Benzema’s presence on the pitch in the second half. Jese gives them a lot of things, but not the physicality and creativity up top that Benzema does, an element that’s immensely valuable in a match like this one. Madrid had a hard time breaking Wolfsburg down without him, leading them to start growing more and more frustrated -- frustration that boiled over late in the match when Marcelo, Arnold and Bale tangled up in a fracas that threatened for a moment to get ugly.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and the match carried on -- though Arnold and Bale were both booked for their involvement in that potential meltdown, while Marcelo escaped punishment despite inciting the entire thing. Real Madrid tried to use that moment as inspiration for a comeback, but their first major push came up empty when Ronaldo got one-on-one with Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio and saw his shot pushed wide thanks to a tremendous reaction save from the veteran Swiss.

That was Madrid’s last great chance of the game -- they’d have a few more minor chances, but nothing especially dangerous and nothing that caused as much risk as some of Wolfsburg’s chances that were also left wanting. The end result is a fantastic one for Wolfsburg, far beyond what anyone could have expected -- beating Real Madrid and keeping them from scoring an away goal gives the Germans a real chance heading into the return leg in Madrid.

As things stand, Real Madrid need to score three times to win -- but if Wolfsburg can exploit just one mistake and score an away goal of their own, that total goes up to a four-goal minimum. That’s a commanding place to be in for Wolfsburg, and piles the pressure onto Real Madrid in a way that they haven’t felt in awhile. The second leg is going to be a dramatic affair, and one you will not want to miss.

Goals: Rodriguez (pen. 18’), Arnold (25’)

Goals: None

Make no mistake, Casemiro is a perfectly fine midfielder who should have a good career with a good team. That team, however, should not be Real Madrid -- he’s simply not good enough to live up to the top-shelf expectations of that environment. He’s starting for Madrid right now because they simply don’t have a better defensive midfielder, but make no mistake -- they can and should upgrade on him this summer if they intend to keep playing the way they have been. He’s not a bad player -- even Wednesday’s poor performance was just a bad day -- but even at his best, Casemiro just isn’t good enough to be a Real Madrid star.

After a stop/start early phase of his career with Schalke, Draxler has absolutely blossomed since joining Wolfsburg. He’s consistently been their best attacking player this season, with incredible skill on the ball both in how he moves with it and what he does with it, and his intense desire for success comes through in almost every action he makes. Draxler didn’t look at all out of pace going up against the titans of Real Madrid, even making Danilo look like a Sunday league player several times during the match. Draxler is a player you’ll be hearing a lot about in the future, and one has to wonder just how long Wolfsburg will be able to hold onto such a talented young star.

Real Madrid’s captain and best defender is such a bizarre player. One minute he’s making a dominant play on the back line, breaking up a tricky attack with almost contemptuous ease. The next, he’s switched off completely, allowing a play to get by him that an academy player would have stopped. It’s frustrating seeing him flip between those two modes at random, especially since there’s really nothing in between them for Ramos -- it’s all or nothing, feast or famine. If some manager can figure out how to get him to actually stay involved in a match at all times, he could become one of the best defenders in the history of the game -- but that’s one heck of a challenge to take on.