This is what happens when you lack intensity – Zinedine Zidane

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane says his players lacked intensity in the 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg on Wednesday night.

Going into the tie as huge favourites, the 10-time Champions League winners slipped to a shock 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Germany and have a mountain to climb in six days time.

Real were unfortunate on the night – Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside when he was clearly onside while Gareth Bale had a legitimate claim for a penalty too. Los Blancos also created a number of good chances throughout to have clawed their way back into the tie.

At his press conference afterwards, Zidane said the players worked hard but lacked the intensity in the final third to finish it off. However, he stated he is confident they can turn the tie around at home on Tuesday night.

“If we don’t have intensity, what happened happens. But I’m very proud of the team. We have to opportunity to turn this around in the return leg. Wolfsburg really didn’t do a lot but this happens in football sometimes. We lacked forcefulness,” he commented.

And he continued: “Now we have to think about the next league match and we can turn it around in the return leg. It can happen that you have a bad night, but we can change it. It wasn’t a lack of confidence. It was a difficult game. When they scored it’s true it could be through a lack of concentration. We can’t always be successful.

“The fans are always behind us. We have 90 minutes or more and we want to go forward. We must be united and keep doing what we’re doing.”