Spanish giants Real Madrid won La Liga and the UEFA Champions League last season. And this round they have begun their journey both in competition and in a certain style.
The Whites have won six of their first seven games and are currently undefeated in La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti’s team is second in the table behind only Barcelona on goal difference.
They have also started well in the Champions League and have won their first three matches. Their recent victory was against the Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk. Interestingly, we are seeing this accessory constantly in European competition for the last few years. Next week they will meet again in the Champions League.
So before that match, let’s take a look at how both teams have fared so far against each other.
Shakhtar Donetsk vs Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk made their first UEFA Champions League/European Cup debut in 2000-01. The Ukrainian team qualified for the group stage after winning the qualifying rounds. They then finished third in their debut campaign and did not advance to the round of 16.
In the following years, they entered the tournament and played in the group stage several times. However, they did not qualify for the Round of 16 until the 2010–11 season when they finished top of their group and advanced to the Round of 16. Shakhtar was then defeated by Barcelona at the quarter-final stage. To date, this remains the best performance of the Ukrainian team so far.
Real Madrid entered the UEFA Champions League/European Cup for the first time in 1956. Los Blancos not only won the first edition but also subsequent editions. To date, they are the most successful club in elite European competition.
Real Madrid have lifted the European Cup/UEFA Champions League 14 times. They are also the only club to have defended their title in the Champions League era. Madrid is also the current champion. They defeated Liverpool in the final last season en route to their 14th title.
Now Shaktar and Real have met seven times in the Champions League so far. The first match between these two clubs took place in the 2015/16 season. Real Madrid emerged victorious with a 4-0 margin. Madrid also won the second leg (3-4) at Shakatr’s home.
The Ukrainian club had to wait until 2020 for their first victory over Los Blancos. Curiously they made a double on them.
So far we have seen seven games between the two clubs. Madrid have won five times while Shakhtar got two wins.
The top scorer in this game is Cristian Ronaldo, who has scored five goals for Los Blancos. Shakhtar’s top scorer has been Alex Teixeira.
