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.
- Casemiro is good, but not good enough for Real Madrid
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.
- Julian Draxler is the truth
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.
It is appalling why the defensive players could not keep up to him whenever he gets on the ball.
- It’s feast or famine with Sergio Ramos
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.
