Real Madrid embarrassed by COVID-hit minnows Shakhtar Donetsk as VAR strikes late

The Shakhtar was without 10 first-team players and nine staff due to coronavirus infections, but recorded a remarkable victory at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium, having scored three times in 13 minutes of first half

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Strikes from Tete and Manor Solomon, either side of a goal against his own side Raphael Varane, gave the Ukrainian champions a shock lead in the meantime and while Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior struck out goals , Madrid failed

Fede Valverde believed he had equalized in added time, but his deflected shot was ruled out after VAR showed Vinicius was offside

Huge upheaval puts Madrid on the back foot in Group B, especially as Shakhtar were in theory their weakest opponents, the others being Inter Milan and Borussia Moenchengladbach

But it also increases the pressure, on the Real side before the Clasico in La Liga on Saturday, and on their coach Zinedine Zidane, who had just supervised a terrible display in last weekend’s loss to Cadiz

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Zidane paid the price for the rotation of his starting lineup for this match and shuffled his squad again, probably thinking about the upcoming Camp Nou clash

Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema both started on the bench and had to enter the second half while Eder Militao, replacing injured Sergio Ramos, Rodrygo and Marco Asensio had the opportunity to impress

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Shakhtar’s three-goal flurry before the start of half time with Viktor Korniyenko beating Militao too easily and as Marcelo was shot to cover he let Tete free behind him to complete Korniyenko’s thick pass

Luka Jovic should have equalized with a free header, but instead Shakhtar scored again, Tete’s raspy effort from the distance webbed by Thibaut Courtois and pushed for an own goal by Varane -did he try to prevent Dentinho from reaching the rebound

Tete ran behind and this time a shiny rear wheel allowed Solomon to touch and shoot in number three

Benzema replaced Rodrygo at half-time but it was Modric who started the return attempt, passing right past two Shakhtar defenders before unleashing a superb shot in the upper right corner

Tete then missed a goalkeeper for 4-1 and Vinicius capitalized The Brazilian came as a substitute, stole the ball and found the net, apparently in one move

Madrid had 31 minutes to save a point but their momentum slowed down Benzema’s finish was blocked by Valerii Bondar and Shakhtar believed they had a fourth but he was ruled out for offside

Valverde celebrated an equalizer in added time when his deflected shot from the edge of the box slipped, but there was one final twist in the story as VAR showed offside Vinicius obstructing the goalkeeper view

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Real Madrid vs Shakhtar Donetsk