By The Cry Of Faith
20th October, 2021

Vinicius Jr. Leads Real Madrid to easy win over Shakhtar

Vinicius Jr. scored twice as Real Madrid won 5-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday to get their Champions League Group D campaign back on track after the embarrassing loss to FC Sheriff Tiraspol.

Shakhtar started by dominating possession, but Madrid posed more of a goal threat. Toni Kroos and Vinicius had shots saved, while Karim Benzema put a left-footed effort high and wide before defender Serhiy Kryvtsov opened the scoring after he diverted Lucas Vazquez's cross into his own net.

After the break, Benzema was involved in Madrid's second, laying off for Luka Modric to thread a pass through the Shakhtar defence for Vinicius to apply the finish. The Brazilian winger grabbed his second with a breathtaking individual goal, before pulling a ball back for Rodrygo to make it 4-0, and Benzema added a fifth in added time.

Positives

Real Madrid and coach Carlo Ancelotti went into this game under genuine pressure, even this early in the season. The defeat to surprise group leaders Sheriff meant three points here were a must. That loss coming in a run of three games without a win had only added to the tension, while Shakhtar had proved last season, when they beat Madrid home and away in the group stage, making elimination a real possibility, that they were an opponent to be taken seriously.

All of that was forgotten in a seamless second half display which recalled Madrid's comfortable, goal-heavy wins from earlier in the season. By the time Vinicius had scored his stunning second to make it 3-0, the team could breathe easy and start to enjoy themselves. The Brazilian winger was outstanding, as was Ballon d'Or candidate Benzema.

Negatives

There were one or two nervous moments early on. Coach Roberto de Zerbi has made Shakhtar a team who like to keep the ball, they had 75% possession in their 2-0 defeat to Sheriff on Matchday One, and came close to that here in the opening 15 minutes. Madrid found it hard to get going before eventually finding their groove. Once they did though, it was relatively plain sailing.

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