Zidane’s Madrid deserve semi-final spot – Dieter Hecking

Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking felt Real Madrid deserved their place in the Champions League semi-finals as he lamented his team’s defending.

A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick led the La Liga giants to a 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu, completing a comeback 3-2 aggregate victory on Tuesday.

Hecking rued his side’s display away from home and said Madrid were worthy semi-finalists.

“They have deserved to go through and won fairly. We did not play as we wanted,” he told a news conference.

“We have not been so bad, but we have not understood what had to be done. We lost many balls.”

Ronaldo opened the scoring after 15 minutes before heading in a Toni Kroos corner moments later.

The Portuguese star completed the comeback with a 77th-minute winner, curling a free-kick through the Wolfsburg wall.

Hecking said “We have been unlucky because the last two goals have been set-pieces and we should have defended better.

“We needed a goal to reach the semi-finals. I congratulate Real Madrid because they deserved to go through.”

Wolfsburg’s attentions now turn to the Bundesliga, in which they sit eighth as they eye a strong finish to the season.