Player Ratings: Real Madrid 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk

Real Madrid started their Champions League campaign with a defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk. Los Blancos really went for it in the second half after trailing 3-0 at half-time, but the two goals weren’t enough. It’s now back-to-back defeats for Real Madrid. These are our player ratings:

Starting XI:

Thibaut Courtois: 6/10

Couldn’t do much to prevent the goals with his defenders completely non existent. Could’ve been 4 or 5 if not for some great saves from the Belgian.

Ferland Mendy: 4/10

Not the best of performances from the Frenchman. Didn’t look comfortable playing as a right-back.

Raphael Varane: 3/10

Poor performance from Varane. Scored an own goal and looked shaky all game without Ramos beside him.

Eder Militao: 4/10

After a great performance against Cadiz, Militao really disappointed tonight. The Brazilian looked rusty and was caught out of position way too many times.

Marcelo: 4/10

Yet another poor performance. The Brazilian is struggling.

Fede Valverde: 4/10

Awful performance from the Uruguayan. Was constantly beaten in midfield. Nowhere near the level we’ve come to expect from him.

Luka Modrić: 5/10

Started the match in similar fashion to his teammates, poor. Massively improved in the second half and opened the scoring for Real Madrid with a thunderbolt.

Casemiro: 4/10

Casemiro has yet to get going this season. Added no grit or presence to the midfield.

Marco Asensio: 4/10

Didn’t contribute anything in attack.

Luka Jovic: 4/10

Finally managed to start a game but didn’t take advantage of it. Anonymous throughout and missed a great opportunity with a mistimed header.

Rodrygo: 4/10

Ineffective. Didn’t do anything of note.

Substitutions:

Karim Benzema: 5/10 – Added some dimension to the attack but wasn’t presented with any opportunities to score.

Vinicius Jr: 7/10 – Real Madrid’s best player on the night. Scored less than a minute after coming on and was a constant headache for Shakhtar’s defense.

Toni Kroos: N/A