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Real Madrid fell in a shocking 3-2 loss at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in a surprising Champions League victory, after VAR ruled out Federico Valverde’s late draw for offside.
Shakhtar had to line up a weakened team due to a series of coronavirus cases, but the underdog Ukrainians ripped apart Real as they took a 3-0 lead in an incredible first half. Luka Modric and Vinícius Júnior cut goals after the break but could not avoid a humiliating defeat.
Valverde thought he had avoided the locals’ blushes in injury time when his low shot from afar hit Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, but Vinícius was ruled to be interfering with play from an offside position by taking a position on the adolescent goalkeeper’s line of sight.
“Today we have lacked a bit of everything, but worst of all is that we have lacked confidence,” Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said after the game. “It’s hard to think of what to say when you concede three goals in the first half. We made a mistake with his first goal and from then on it was very difficult.
“I am left with a very bad feeling about everything that happened tonight. It’s a bad game, a bad night but I’m the coach and I’m the one who has to find solutions. I didn’t find them tonight and it’s a very difficult moment for the players ”.
With construction still underway at the Bernabéu, Real Madrid were playing at their 6,000-capacity Alfredo Di Stéfano training ground, where they lost 1-0 to Cádiz in La Liga at the weekend. Shakhtar gave them a scare in the 15th minute when Marlos broke into heads-up with Thibaut Courtois, but the goalkeeper saved with his legs.
Courtois could do nothing to prevent Tetê from opening the scoring with a low shot just before half an hour, after a strong run by winger Viktor Korniyenko. It was a well-deserved advantage for Luis Castro’s team, who were left without 10 players including goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov and Brazilian stars Taison, Alan Patrick and Júnior Moraes.
Three minutes later, the visitors had a second, Courtois stopped Tetê’s shot only for defender Raphaël Varane to push the rebound into his own net. Manor Solomon capped off a remarkable first half with the third, grabbing onto Tetê’s heel and rolling the ball into the bottom corner.
Zidane lunged at Karim Benzema at half-time and they fell back eight minutes into the second half with a fantastic shot from Modric. Substitute Vinícius scored within seconds of joining the action with a withering shot.
Shakhtar had a chance to extend their lead, but Courtois denied Tetê before Marlos canceled a goal for offside. With time running out, Benzema was denied for a final block and Éder Militão fired before Valverde’s last leveler was chalked up after a VAR review.
“In the first half we were not worthy of this competition,” Modric said after the match. “It is obvious that we have to improve, today we lacked confidence, especially in the first half, but we have to keep going. We cannot waste time regretting what happened ”.
Zidane must now prepare his team for this weekend’s Clásico against Barcelona. “This is a negative night for us, but we have to change things,” he said. “I feel very bad for the players, who have won so many things for me and they don’t deserve it. But this is football, one day everything is gray and the next the sun rises ”.
