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#3 Real Madrid's defensive woes continue
Real Madrid have no one but themselves to blame after conceding the opening goal against Shakhtar.
It was a brilliant counter-attacking move by the hosts that resulted in the opener, but it was nothing that couldn't have been dealt with by the visitors.
It was always expected that Shakhtar would invite Real Madrid to attack and then catch them on the break, and that's what the hosts did. Varane and co should've been aware of the danger, but miscommunication only made the situation worse for Courtois, who was left at the striker's mercy.
Los Merengues conceded the second goal in similar fashion, with the hosts yet again catching the visitors on the break. This time it was Manor Solomon making the most of a 4v2 situation, sprinting towards goal before drilling in a shot past Courtois at the near post.
In the absence of their captain Sergio Ramos and right-back Dani Carvajal. Real Madrid's defence has clearly suffered this season, and the absence of Casemiro against Shakhtar Donetsk only exacerbated matters for the beleaguered visitors.
#2 Karim Benzema finds himself isolated in attack
Real Madrid were without some of their best players against Shakhtar Donetsk - Sergio Ramos, Eden Hazard, Casemiro and Marcelo - which meant that striker Karim Benzema was the visitors' best player on the field.
Unfortunately, in a game where the Frenchman should've been actively involved to seal his side's place in the last-16, he was completely out of sync with his teammates. Beside Courtois and the Real Madrid substitutes, Benzema had the fewest touches in the game for Los Blancos.
Winger Asensio had two good chances for Real Madrid in the first half, hitting the post once and calling Trubin into action to produce the save of the game in the 30th minute.
With a little more support, Benzema could have helped Real Madrid score off at least one of their eight shots on target.
#1 Shakhtar's counter-attacking strategy yields rich dividends
In football, gameplans formulated in the drawing board don't usually work out in matches, but when they do, it is very satisfying. Against Real Madrid, Shakhtar had a fixed plan on how they wanted to take on the 13-time champions. As was evident in their famous 3-2 win at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano last month, all Shakhtar did was to attack at the right moment.
The hosts could not attack much in the first half, as the visitors did not commit a lot of bodies forward; hence there was not a lot of scope for counter-attacks. However, when the game resumed after the break, Shakhtar punished Real Madrid not once but twice, both times on the counter, as the visitors committed too many players forward for a corner on both occasions.
With bottom-of-the-table Inter Milan winning at table-toppers Borussia Monchengladbach in the other game in the group, all four teams are in contention to reach the Round of 16. However, Madrid, who are behind Shakhtar on head-to-head will miss the bus if the Pitmen win on Matchday 6 or emulate Madrid's result against Monchengladbach.
