Shakhtar Donetsk was trounced 5-0 by a clinical Real Madrid side in their UEFA Champions League group game in front of 40,000 spectators at Olympic Stadium in Kyiv.
Shakhtar, who have been exiled from their home stadium in Donetsk since 2014 by the war against Russia, started the match with bravery and intensity, but crumbled after conceding the first goal and couldn’t touch Real’s dominance for the rest of the evening.
Going into the contest, Real were second after two games in their group of four teams, while Shakhtar were dead last with only a single point.
Both teams had already lost to surprise group leaders Sheriff Tiraspol, who are based in the self-proclaimed capital of Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region.
Shakhtar came out ready to attack the 13-time European champions early on: they showed discipline in defence and broke forward quickly whenever they won back the ball.
Real looked vulnerable in the first half-hour, but the Ukrainian side were unable to capitalise due to a chronic lack of creativity in attack; many intelligent runs went frustratingly unrewarded.
Over time, Shakhtar started to lose focus at the back, and were punished for it in the 38th minute.
The goal was a misfortune rather than a mistake: Shakhtar captain Serhiy Kryvtsov threw his leg high into the air to block a dangerous cross from Lucas Vasquez, but instead sent the ball sailing slowly over goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin and into the net.
The Ukrainian club’s night got worse straight after half-time: a razor-sharp through ball from Luka Modrić bamboozled everyone except Vinicius Junior, who easily beat Trubin from eight meters out.
Shakhtar’s early zeal was long gone, and five minutes later Vinicius danced past their lumpen defence and powered the ball into the top left corner of the net to get his second and make it 3:0.
The Ukrainian side looked completely lost for much of the second half: Their head coach Roberto De Zerbi will likely regret not putting midfield anchor Taras Stepanenko, who came on far too late to make a difference, in the starting line-up.
Vinicius teed up a great cross into fellow Brazilian Rodrygo in the 65th minute to give Real a fourth, and Shakhtar’s misery was capped by a late goal from veteran striker Karim Benzema.
The defeat, coupled with Inter Milan’s victory over Sheriff, leaves Shakhtar even further adrift at the bottom of Group D, with little chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds.
