Real Madrid stunned by Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League opener

Real Madrid made an embarrassing begin within the Champions League on Wednesday by dropping 3-2 at residence to a depleted Shakhtar Donetsk, their second consecutive defeat forward of the Clasico in opposition to Barcelona on Saturday.

Shakhtar have been with out 10 first-team gamers and 9 members of workers as a result of coronavirus infections however recorded a outstanding win on the Alfredo di Stefano stadium, after scoring thrice in 13 first-half minutes.

Strikes from Tete and Manor Solomon, both facet of a Raphael Varane own-goal, gave the Ukrainian champions a shock lead on the interval and whereas Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior pulled objectives again, Madrid fell brief.

Fede Valverde thought he had grabbed an equaliser in damage time however his deflected shot was dominated out after VAR confirmed Vinicius was offside.

An enormous upset places Madrid on the again foot in Group B, particularly as Shakhtar have been in principle their weakest opponent, the others being Inter Milan and Borussia Moenchengladbach.

But it additionally cranks up the strain, on the Real crew forward of the Clasico in La Liga on Saturday, and on their coach Zinedine Zidane, who had simply overseen a dreadful show in final weekend’s loss to Cadiz.

Zidane paid the worth for rotating his beginning line-up for that recreation and shuffled his crew once more, presumably with the upcoming conflict on the Camp Nou in thoughts.

Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema each began on the bench and needed to come on within the second half whereas Eder Militao, in for the injured Sergio Ramos, Rodrygo and Marco Asensio got possibilities to impress.

Shakhtar’s three-goal flurry earlier than half-time started with Viktor Korniyenko beating Militao too simply and as Marcelo was pulled throughout to cowl, he left Tete free behind him to complete Korniyenko’s poked go.

Luka Jovic ought to have equalised with a free header however as an alternative Shakhtar scored once more, Tete’s rasping effort from vary palmed out by Thibaut Courtois and prodded in for an own-goal by Varane has he tried to cease Dentinho reaching the rebound.

Madrid seemed shell-shocked but it surely bought worse. Tete raced in behind and this time an excellent back-heel allowed Solomon to take a contact and fireplace in quantity three.

Benzema changed Rodrygo at half-time but it surely was Modric who kick-started the comeback try, shifting proper previous two Shakhtar defenders earlier than unleashing an outstanding shot into the top-right nook.

Tete then missed a sitter for 4-1 and Vinicius capitalised. The Brazilian got here on in its place, stole the ball again and located the web, seemingly multi functional motion.

Madrid had 31 minutes to rescue some extent however their momentum stalled. Benzema’s end was blocked by Valerii Bondar and Shakhtar thought they’d a fourth but it surely was dominated out for offside.

Valverde celebrated an equaliser in damage time when his deflected shot from the sting of the realm crept in however there was a last twist within the story as VAR confirmed the offside Vinicius was obstructing the goalkeeper’s view.