Wed | Dec 18, 2024

Shakhtar put Madrid in ‘Real’ trouble

Published:Wednesday | December 2, 2020 | 12:16 AM
Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard (centre) and Shakhtar’s Mykola Matviyenko (right) battle for the ball during their UEFA Champions League Group B match at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday.
AP
Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard (centre) and Shakhtar’s Mykola Matviyenko (right) battle for the ball during their UEFA Champions League Group B match at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine, yesterday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP):

Shakhtar Donetsk beat Real Madrid 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League yesterday, leaving the 13-time European champions’ hopes of advancing hanging in the balance.

Dentinho made the most of a defensive lapse early in the second half, and fellow substitute Manor Solomon secured the result late on as the Ukrainian side completed the double over Madrid in the group.

Shakhtar went ahead of Madrid courtesy of a better head-to-head record. Both teams are on seven points, one behind Group B leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach, who lost 3-2 to Inter Milan (five points) in the other game of the group yesterday.

Madrid host Borussia in the final group match while Shakhtar visit Inter.

Madrid have advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League in all 24 of its previous group-stage campaigns.

Real Madrid knew they could qualify for the round of 16 with a win against Shakhtar and it was close to an early breakthrough, but Marco Asensio hit a good pass from Karim Benzema off the left post from close range.

Asensio was also denied by Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin, who did well to push his strike over the bar.

Shakhtar came out in the second half more energised and Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who had little to do in the first half, pulled off an early save to deny Taison.

That proved to be a warning sign as Shakhtar broke the deadlock in the 57th minute when a rapid counterattack followed by a defensive mix-up allowed Dentinho to sneak in and fire into the bottom left corner.

Another counterattack saw Shakhtar double their lead eight minutes from time as Solomon raced down the left flank before cutting in and drilling into the near bottom corner.

Yesterday’s UEFA Champions League results

Group A

Lokomotiv 1-3 Salzburg

Atletico Madrid 1-1 Bayern Munich

Group B

Shaktar 2-0 Real Madrid

Gladbach 2-3 Inter

Group C

Porto 0-0 Man City

Marseille 2-1 Olympiacos

Group D

Atalanta 1-1 Midtjylland

Liverpool 1-0 Ajax

Today’s games

Group E

Krasnodar v Rennes 12:55 p.m.

Sevilla v Chelsea 3 p.m.

Group F

Dortmund v Lazio 3 p.m.

Brugge v Zenit 3 p.m.

Group G

Ferencvaros v Barcelona 3 p.m.

Juventus v Kyiv 3 p.m.

Group H

Basaksehir v Leipzig 12:55 p.m.

Man United v PSG 3 p.m.