Wolfsburg: Knocked out by Ronaldo, but well-known spot on map now

There was no VfL Wolfsburg miracle in the end. The 2015 German Cup winner was one of the underdogs that made it into the quarterfinals of the 2015/2016 Champions League. The surprise 2-0 victory in the first leg now must be sensation enough in the duel between one of the most famous clubs in international football and Wolfsburg, a club not people around the globe had heard before.

"Now, after we beat Real Madrid in the first leg, many took a look into their maps to find out where Wolfsburg is. After all we managed to ensure some attention for the club around the world," said Wolfsburg`s CEO Klaus Allofs after Real's star-ensemble struck back in the second leg with a 3-0 (2-0) victory.

Wolfsburg's record in this season's Champions League is more than positive, despite the disappointment of missing out on upsetting Real. Things are back to normal again: Real have progressed to the semi-final for the sixth time in succession. So things must be put back to normal as the gap between both clubs seems to be galactic.

The transfer fees for only two of Madrid's superstars such as Gareth Bale and Cristiano (Bale 91 million euros 2013 from Tottenham Hotspur/Ronaldo 94 million euros 2009 from Manchester United) could buy Wolfsburg's entire team.

Real has lifted the Champions League trophy ten times, more than any other club. Wolfsburg won the German championship on one occasion (2009) and the German Cup in 2015. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals within two minutes (16th/17th) and then completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute. He heads the goal-scoring list with 16 scored goals which is one more than Wolfsburg has put away in the whole competition. Ronaldo is therefore on the brink of breaking his record of 17 goals scored in the 2013/2014 Champions League campaign.

Ronaldo stands for superlatives in many ways. Alone in 2013, Real is said to have sold 1.4 million club shirts, one million of them were Ronaldo shirts. In 2013, the number of Ronaldo shirts was bigger than sales of treble winner Bayern Munich in total (880,000), figures Wolfsburg can only dream of.

Real is said to have earned over a 100 million euros from the sale of Ronaldo shirts alone. Last year Ronaldo's income was estimated at 67.4 million euros which is more than the VfL Wolfsburg has earned by reaching the quarterfinal (45 million euros).

Elimination would have been a catastrophe for the Spaniards and therefore they considered every little detail in order to avoid being dumped out of the competition. Before the game against Wolfsburg they even widened the pitch by two meters to have more space, but all according FIFA regulations.

In the first game, it was obvious that Wolfsburg was underestimated by Real. In the second game it was not the other way around, but Wolfsburg seemed to freeze in Madrid's arena for much of the time. The Germans were unable to create a pressure similar to the one in the first leg and launch fast counter-attacks. Wolfsburg seemed to be far too scared to open up their game because they feared Madrid would score a third goal. In general Wolfsburg was not brave enough this evening.

What is left for Wolfsburg after the 2015/2016 Champions League? Besides a solid income and a lot of newly gained international reputation, the team is highly likely to miss out on another season of European football after below-par performances in the German Bundesliga. Looking at the current table, eighth-placed Wolfsburg won't even make it into the Europa League.

The club will have to re-structure his squad and overcome a crisis of the team. Wolfsburg can only be happy with their Champions League performances after winning seven of its ten games.

Only in the last 15 minutes, after Ronaldo's third goal did Wolfsburg remember how close the score really was. Having won the first leg by 2-0, all the needed was a single goal in Madrid to cause one of the biggest upsets in football history. Ronaldo's free kick when scoring the all-important third goal went through the wall. The German Pay-TV station "sky" estimated the gap in Wolfsburg' s wall to be only 22 centimeters.

Wolfsburg would have reached the next round with a 3-1 win. Now Ronaldo rules the head-lines. But one thing should be considered: The final result in aggregate was only 3-2, pretty close considering the gigantic gap between the two clubs when it comes to everything else.

"We are all disappointed of course. It is now our job to get back alright to daily life and gain some points in the Bundesliga. The team has done a great job, it was pretty close against a great club such as Real Madrid," Wolfsburg`s coach Dieter Hecking said. Enditem