REAL MADRID were left red-faced when several players appeared to be marking nobody in Shakhtar Donetsk’s first goal last night.
Viewers of the Ukrainians’ 2-0 win were left baffled by the defending for Dentinho’s opener.
A freeze frame of the build-up showed Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Martin Odegaard, Nacho Fernandez and Rodrygo Goes all tracking back.
But the players were far closer to each other than any opponents – making them entirely ineffective as the ball was slammed home.
Amazingly, it wasn’t actually the worst piece of play from Los Blancos in the move.
That honour fell to Ferland Mendy and Raphael Varane, after the left-back intercepted the subsequent pass forward with a weak touch.
The ball came to Dentinho, courtesy of Varane’s decision to jump out of the way, and he emphatically slotted home.
Real played with a severely depleted backline on Tuesday night, shorn of Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and Alvaro Odriozola.
Zidane forgot about social distancing.
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That meant Lucas Vazquez was deployed as a makeshift right-back and it was the Spaniard who allowed Manor Salomon to run at goal and score in the 82nd minute.
Zinedine Zidane has vowed to carry on as Real coach amid a difficult start to the season.
The reigning LaLiga champions continue to suffer from silly errors with Thibaut Courtois gifting Alaves a goal in Madrid’s 2-1 defeat on the weekend.
That left Real fourth and seven points off leaders Real Sociedad, ahead of a crucial run of games against Sevilla and Atletico Madrid.
But it is next Wednesday’s visit of Borussia Monchengladbach that could be make or break for Zidane.
All four teams in Group B are separated by just three points with Real third and needing to avoid defeat.
The Champions League has long been seen as the most important competition for the Spanish giants and club bosses may not look favourably on a rare jaunt to the Europa League.
Avoiding mistakes like the one against Shakhtar will be key and fans were quick to poke fun at Los Blancos on Tuesday evening.
Twitter user Hans wrote: “Zidane forgot about social distancing.”
One cheeky fan added: “Is Ole Real Madrid manager or Zidane?”
Zinedine Zidane will be fighting for his job in next week’s Group B decider[/caption]
Another tweeted: “They maintained a tight line, to be fair.”
While one account called Europae League tweeted: “Welcome to Europa League Real Madrid.”
And Gooner Siencheu commented: “Please for God’s sake, Real Madrid don’t come into our Europa league. Arsenal need to try and win this nonsense this year.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
