Wolfsburg boss Dieter Hecking hailed his side's stunning 2-0 defeat of Real Madrid in their Champions League quarterfinal first-leg tie on Wednesday, and chided reporters afterward for not believing in the Bundesliga outfit in the lead-up to the game.
A Ricardo Rodriguez penalty and a Maximilian Arnold strike from a fine Bruno Henrique pass had the hosts two goals ahead of the 10-time European champions after 25 minutes. Though Real pushed for an away goal, Hecking's men held out for a famous result against the favoured La Liga giants.
Speaking to the media after the match, the German manager was quick to remind reporters of their doubting of his side, who currently sit just eighth in the Bundesliga table.
"Tuesday I looked into your eyes and nobody believed in what I said," Hecking said. "But you see, anything is possible in football.
"You have to put a lot of energy in your game when you play against a top team like Madrid. If Madrid open the door for us, we have to barge through it.
"The penalty? There was contact so it's a clear spot kick for me.
"Bruno Henrique was one of the key players tonight. We wanted to surprise Real with this player."
Wolfsburg centre-back Naldo echoed his manager's sentiments after the win. The Brazilian praised his teammates for bouncing back against after a humbling loss to Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.
"We showed that we are a team. And we showed that we can beat anyone if we focus on our own performance," Naldo told Sky.
"We received a lot of criticism after the defeat versus Bayer Leverkusen, but we put in a sensational team effort.
"But we must now also show what we can do against Mainz in the Bundesliga and in the second leg in Madrid."
Goalscorer Arnold received a yellow card after clashing with Real Madrid left-back Marcelo in the second half.
He said: "Madrid put us under constant pressure, but we acted united and defended as a team."
"Winning 2-0 is great and we have a chance of reaching the next round now.
"What happened with Marcelo? I told him that I wanted to have beautiful hair like him. ... Things like this are part of football. Everything is forgotten after the match."
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg playmaker Julian Draxler cautioned about getting too excited about Wednesday's result.
"We are enjoying the moment," Draxler said. "We put in a superb performance, despite our recent performances. We were prolific in front of goal.
"But we cannot afford to get complacent and [think we] are already through to the semifinals."