Real Madrid returns to Champions League action with the visit of Roma Tuesday needing to book its place in its quarterfinals to keep alive a hugely disappointing season. A place in the last eight for a sixth consecutive season is well within the reach of Zinedine Zidane's men with a comfortable 2-0 first-leg lead to rely on. Yet, Madrid will have memories of this stage of the competition 12 months ago when Schalke had the 10-time champion clinging on in the final stages as the Germans won 4-3 at the Bernabeu. Real's home form this season has shown in equal measure the talent and frailties prevalent in its star-studded squad. Madrid's forlorn challenge for the Spanish title owes much to defeats to rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu. Yet, it has won 15 and drawn one of its other 16 home games, scoring 69 goals in the process. Trailing Barca by 12 points with just 10 Liga games to play and having been turfed out of the Copa del Rey after just one game for fielding an ineligible player, Madrid's sole focus has turned to winning an 11th European Cup. And not without reason. On the last seven times Madrid was crowned king of Europe it failed to win the league domestically. "We are still in the Champions League. It is a competition we aspire to win and it is not a coincidence that Real Madrid is the team that have won the most European Cups," said Cristiano Ronaldo. "Nothing is lost and we are going to continue working to achieve great things at the end of the season." Whether Madrid can achieve great things in the Champions League come Milan on May 28 will depend much on Ronaldo and could play a major role in the three-time World Player of the Year's future at the club. At 31, Real is also well aware this summer may be its last chance to recoup the near 100 million euros it paid Manchester United for his services seven years ago. Gareth Bale also looks set to reinforce Real Madrid against Roma after a promising return from injury at the weekend. Real should also have Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Marcelo back after they missed Saturday's 7-1 rout of Celta Vigo when Ronaldo scored four goals. VfL Wolfsburg, meanwhile, is confident its recent good form can carry it past Gent also Tuesday and into the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time. The Wolves, who won the first leg 3-2 in Belgium after leading 3-0 and conceding two late goals, are fuelled up on confidence following a 2-1 victory over in-form Borussia Moenchengladbach Saturday. It was its second league win in five days and moved it back into seventh place in the table. Wolfsburg, last season's runners-up and German Cup winners, seems to have recovered from its slump earlier in the campaign in time for the biggest European game in the club's history. — Agencies
