Real Madrid’s hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 for a 24th consecutive season is on the line after Zinedine Zidane’s side were beaten again by Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday at Kiev. Real Madrid,UEFA,champions league,
The 13-time European champions are third in Group B with one game to play.
The Spanish champions, currently fourth in La Liga, were without injured pair Eden Hazard and captain Sergio Ramos but welcomed back talisman Karim Benzema for their return to the stadium where they were last crowned European champions in 2018.
Real started well as Marco Asensio hit the post after five minutes and Benzema drew goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin into action.
Trubin then tipped over from Asensio’s powerful shot before half-time and again denied Benzema to see to a goalless half time.
After the break, substitute Dentinho pounced on Raphael Varane’s error to score with the hosts’ second shot on target after 57 minutes.
Shakhtar pushed for a second and got their reward eight minutes from time when Solomon fired into the bottom corner.
Shakhtar had not scored in three group games since beating Real 3-2 in October and conceded a total of 10 goals in heavy back-to-back defeats by leaders Borussia Monchengladbach.
But the Ukrainian side, with their superior head-to-head record, now have the upper hand on Real going into next week’s final round of fixtures.
