Real Madrid 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk: Zinedine Zidane’s team shocked at home

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane took responsibility for “a bad night” as the thirteen-time European Cup champions suffered a humiliating loss to a second Shakhtar Donetsk.

But Luis Castro’s young squad was undaunted and took an incredible, but perfectly justified, 3-0 lead on Real’s empty Alfredo di Stefano training ground.

Goals from Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior after the break gave Real hope, but there was no escape for the most decorated team in the competition despite a dramatic finish.

Federico Valverde thought he had tied injury time, but after a review on the field, referee Srdjan Jovanovic disallowed the goal for offside.

The loss follows a shocking 1-0 home loss Cádiz newly promoted in La Liga on Saturday.

“I did not see the team as I wanted and when you do not see the team as you wanted it is your fault,” said Zidane.

“It’s a bad game, a bad night. I’m the coach and it’s up to me to find the solution.

“We deserve the criticism, everyone and me first. Luckily we had a reaction in the second half because they don’t deserve it, they are champions and it bothers me.”

“I am responsible and I have to find solutions because that cannot happen.”

Club legend Zidane won the Champions League in each of his first three seasons at the helm of Real, but his decision to rest players with next Saturday’s El Clásico against Barcelona in mind was a rare aberration and huge.

Without captain Sergio Ramos, left in the stands with a knee injury, Real’s defense was a disaster and there was little they could do to prevent Mateus Tete and Manor Solomon from scoring on either side of an own goal by Raphael Varane.

It is telling that Real Madrid have lost seven of their last eight Champions League games without Ramos at the heart of their backline.

Former Tottenham midfielder Modric landed an impressive long-range shot to bring a glimmer of hope and, although Vinicius scored within 15 seconds of his arrival, Shakhtar endured a famous result.

“We have a game every three days. But hey, there is no excuse,” said Zidane.

“These are decisions that I have made and I have to find what will lead us to be strong again and win. And I have only a few days.”

‘We are living a nightmare’

Castro was asked in his pre-match press conference if the game should have been canceled due to exhaustion, and the former Porto manager admitted that “right now we are experiencing a nightmare.”

Instead, it was a first-half dream for his intrepid team, which contained eight players under the age of 23. Captain Marlos had already squandered a glorious opportunity to put Donetsk ahead when Tete passed Thibaut Courtois after a woeful defense from Varane and Marcelo.

Varane then got into his own net after Courtois failed to sustain a shot from Tete, and Solomon swept in a good third place after a skillful one-touch play had split Real.

Real sent in the rested Karim Benzema at halftime and he clinched the game when Modric scored a wonderful goal, launching a 25-yard shot into the top corner.

The comeback was good and true when Vinicius scored with his first touch, sweeping after a defensive lapse.

Shakhtar camped on defense but had chances to seal it off, Tete wasted twice good chances and Marlos saw a fourth discarded offside.

There would be more offside drama to come. Valverde’s shot from a short corner overtook 19-year-old goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin, but Vinicius was offside, right in his eye line and the goal was scored in chalk.

After a summer in which there were no transfers, Zidane now has work on his hands to qualify from a group that also includes Inter and Borussia Monchengladbach.

However, it can make more history, as no team has won the Champions League after losing their first match.

First time this century – the statistics

• Real have lost three consecutive matches in the European Cup / Champions League for the first time since September 1986.
• Shakhtar are the first Ukrainian team to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League since March 1999, when Dynamo Kiev won 2-0, before the two Shakhtar scorers were born tonight (Manor Solomon in July 1999 and Tete in February 2000).
• Raphael Varane became the third player to score two own goals in the Champions League for Real, alongside Ivan Helguera and Sergio Ramos.
• Vinicius Junior scored for Real just 15 seconds after coming in as a substitute – this is the fastest substitute goal in the Champions League since 2006-07 (when Opta has compiled this data).
• Luka Modric became the fourth player to score for Real Madrid in the European Cup / Champions League at the age of 35 or older, after Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Paco Gento.
• Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatolii Trubin became the second youngest goalkeeper to play against Real Madrid in Champions League history (19 years and 81 days), behind only Schalke’s Timon Wellenreuther in February 2015 (19 years and 77 days).