A night to remember for Shakhtar
Bayern Munich's Champions League final hero Kingsley Coman was in inspired form again as the defending champions crushed Atletico Madrid. It was another ruthless display of attacking and a statement of intent by Bayern in a 4-0 victory on Wednesday.
There was a sense of deja-vu about Joshua Kimmich's killer pass and Coman's clinical finish. Just as they combined in Lisbon to clinch Europe's top prize in August, they did the same to open Bayern's title defense. That set the tone for another relentless performance by this phenomenal team.
Liverpool and Manchester City also won onthe night, but it was Shakhtar Donetsk that produced one of the most memorable upsets in Champions League history, beating 13-time winner Real Madrid 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid faced a team who had been decimated by injuries and had 10 players absent due to contracting Covid-19 and were still, quite simply, embarrassed.
"We were lacking a bit of everything today but worst of all we were lacking confidence. It's difficult to think of what to say when you concede three goals in the first half. I'm left with a very bad feeling because of everything that happened tonight," said Real manager Zinedine Zidane.
"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."
Dealing with a situation he had described as a "nightmare", Shakhtar's Portuguese coach Luis Castro watched on in admiration as his players out-witted and out-ran their illustrious opponents.
"I think they underestimated us but we showed our football and style," said Viktor Korniienko.
The Ukrainian champions, Luis Castro, added: "We were a united team from the first until the last minute. When the score was 3-2 we had to defend more and I thought 'Oh, let this game end as soon as possible'. It's a great result for us."
Real began their domestic campaign in impressive form, winning three and drawing one and looked to have picked up where they left off last season.
However, at the weekend the team looked lackluster against Cadiz, playing in their first top-flight Spanish campaign for 15 years, and were convincingly outplayed. Many wondered whether it was just a small blip or an insight into some early issues Zidane would be facing this season.
Wednesday's match would certainly have done nothing to allay those concerns. Missing Sergio Ramos through injury, and having rested Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos, Real Madrid's game plan was undetectable.
There were signs of a high press early on, but no indication of what to do with the ball when they won it. It was the same in the loss to Cadiz on Saturday.
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