Shakhtar Donetsk celebrate during their victory over Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk celebrate during their victory over Real Madrid

Real Madrid 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk: Zinedine Zidane's side stunned in Champions League


Shakhtar Donetsk secured a memorable three points as they beat Real Madrid 3-2 in their opening encounter of the Champions League campaign.

The Ukrainian side, who were missing ten players for their trip to Spain through Covid-19 and injury, stunned Real with three first-half goals which gave them a commanding lead at the break.

Mateus Tete struck with 29 minutes on the clock as his left-footed effort was driven into the bottom corner before Raphael Varane poked the ball into his own net to extend the advantage four minutes later.

With half-time approaching, Manor Solomon made it three and Real, who were 2/11 favourites before kick-off, had it all to do in the second 45 minutes.

Luka Modric struck with a fine effort from range and Vinícius Júnior scored just seconds after coming on to narrow the lead to one goal just before the hour mark.

Tete had two big chances to kill off the game but was halted by the goalkeeper while Marlos was denied by the offside flag as Shakhtar looked to hold off the Real comeback.

In the final moments, Real thought they had equalised when Federico Valverde's shot found its way past Anatolii Trubin but after a VAR check, the goal was chalked off with Vinícius stood in an offside position and influencing the goalkeeper's decision.

Match highlights

Real Madrid 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk | Champions League Highlights

Opta facts

  • Real Madrid have lost three consecutive matches in the European Cup/Champions League for the first time since September 1986.
  • Shakhtar Donetsk are the first Ukrainian side to win against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League since March 1999, when Dynamo Kiev won 2-0 before either of Shakhtar’s two scorers tonight were born (Manor Solomon in July 1999 and Tetê in February 2000).
  • Real Madrid shipped three first half goals in a UEFA Champions League game for the first time since September 2005 against Lyon, and the first time in a home game since February 2000 against Bayern Munich.
  • Raphael Varane became the third player to score two own goals in the UEFA Champions League for Real Madrid, along with Ivan Helguera and Sergio Ramos.
  • Vinícius Júnior scored for Real Madrid just 15 seconds after coming on as a substitute – this is the fastest substitute goal in the UEFA Champions League since 2006/07 (when Opta has collected this data).
  • Real Madrid have lost seven of their last eight UEFA Champions League matches that have not featured Sergio Ramos.
  • Luka Modric became only the fourth player to score for Real Madrid in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League aged 35 or older, after Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás and Paco Gento.
  • Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin became the second youngest goalkeeper to start against Real Madrid in UEFA Champions League history (19y 81d), behind only FC Schalke 04’s Timon Wellenreuther in February 2015 (19y 77d).

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