A bullish Zinedine Zidane has warned Wolfsburg that his Real Madrid team can "achieve anything" ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Wolfsburg stunned Madrid in last week's first meeting, running out 2-0 winners thanks to Ricardo Rodriguez's penalty and Maximilian Arnold's well-taken finish in the first half.
Watch: >Zidane calls for 90 minutes of focus
Zidane cited fatigue as a reason for his side's below-par display at Volkswagen Arena, with Madrid's trip to Germany coming just four days after its energy-sapping Clasico victory over Barcelona.
However, the Frenchman - who made eight changes to his starting XI for Saturday's 4-0 La Liga rout of Eibar - insists Madrid is ready to launch an assault on Wolfsburg's lead as it bids to reach the Champions League semifinals for the sixth season in a row .
"We'll have to increase our level - we are fully aware that we are two goals behind, and we know we'll play a complicated game," Zidane told the media after the victory over Eibar.
Read: >Ronaldo targets 'magical night'
"But I'd like to say that we are able to achieve anything. During the season we were not always at our best, but we are also able to achieve great things. What we need to do first is get some rest - we'll prepare on Monday, and we do not have much time to do so," Zidane said.
"We are not going to work much but will choose the team and the strategy that is best against Wolfsburg. There is not too much to consider - we just need to be focused. "We need to be on our game straight away, like we did today and usually are at home."
Madrid heads into Tuesdays' match in high spirits, with its Clasico win at Camp Nou and Barca's subsequent slip-up at Real Sociedad on Saturday - coupled with their own win over Eibar - reigniting the Liga title race. Zidane's men now sit just four points adrift of Barca with six league games remaining.
The Eibar victory also featured yet another milestone for Cristiano Ronaldo, who became the first player to net 30 La Liga goals in six straight seasons. The Madrid superstar is also this season's top scorer in the Champions League, with 13 goals in just nine appearances.
Wolfsburg, meanwhile, is languishing in eighth in the Bundesliga, with a 1-1 draw with Mainz on Saturday dealing another blow to its faint hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
Dieter Hecking's team is now winless in its last four league outings, and the coach blamed "tired minds" after it failed to hold a lead given to it by Andre Schurrle's goal early in the second half against Mainz.
Key Opta stats:
- In
15 previous instances of teams losing 2-0 away from home in the first leg of a Champions League game, only twice have sides managed to progress - Barcelona in February 2013 (v AC Milan) and Manchester Utd in February 2014 (v Olympiacos).
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Real Madrid has won 29 of their last 34 Champions League games at the Bernabeu (D3 L2).
- Madrid is the only team
yet to concede a goal at home in the Champions League this season.
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Wolfsburg – which is in the quarterfinals of Europe’s top club competition for the first time in its history –
has won its last five Champions League games , its best ever run and the longest current streak among teams left in the competition.
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