Despite a miraculous performance in the face of atrocity in their homeland, Shakhtar Donetsk were denied an historic win over Real Madrid, as the 14-time European champions scored a 95th minute equaliser to rescue a point in Warsaw.Eager to inflict Real Madrid’s first competitive defeat of the season, Shakhtar made their intentions known from the very outset, putting up a strong showing in the face of a hungry Los Blancos outfit who gradually began stamping their mark on the game. It was Karim Benzema who threatened first, forcing Anatoliy Trubin to make a spectacular save nearing the midway mark of the first period, when he let fly with venom from inside the box towards the left post.CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Tomori and Giroud forgot they left Chelsea, easy three points for the BluesShortly after, Oleksandr Zubkov wasted a great opportunity having dribbled his way inside Madrid’s box, as his shot was cut short with a brilliant stop by Nacho Fernández. Having scored an average of three goals per game across their last eight fixtures against Ukrainian sides, the visitors upped the ante and registered successive efforts from Benzema, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde. However, they couldn’t find a way past Trubin, who once again proved instrumental between the posts to take the game level into the second period.Zubkov paid off his goalkeeper’s saves immediately after the restart, nailing his header within an inch of perfection past compatriot Andriy Lunin into the bottom corner following Bodan Mykhaylichenko’s superb cross. Unimpressed by his side’s advances, Carlo Ancelotti decided to bring in Vinícius Júnior and Luka Modrić on the brink of the hour mark, hoping to inject some pace and creativity in his side’s style of play.However, it was in defence where Los Blancos looked uneasy, as they almost conceded a second after Lassina Traore struck the crossbar having rounded Lunin, before the shot-stopper pulled off a wonderful save off a dipping effort from Zubkov.Igor Jovićević’s men held on valiantly in the face of Real pressure, but their defence would be broken five minutes into stoppage time. Toni Kroos’ lofted cross into the area was headed home by Antonio Rüdiger to preserve Los Blancos’ unbeaten start to the season ahead of the season’s first El Clasico. An incredibly nasty clash of heads between the German defender and Trubin saw the contest end in bloody circumstances on a night where Shakhtar did their country proud.Elsewhere, both Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica put one foot into the Champions League knockout stages after a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes. Kylian Mbappé netted his 31st UCL goal for the Ligue 1 champions, making him the club’s all-time top scorer in the competition, overtaking Edinson Cavani.Two sides who came into this clash unbeaten so far this season met in the French capital, with the subplot dominated by the reported unhappiness of Mbappé. Regardless, PSG’s superstar started, the Parisians were without Lionel Messi due to injury and the hosts’ performance suffered, as they barely threatened an attack in the opening stages with Benfica taking control.Christophe Galtier’s men were handed the lead before the break though. 18-year-old António Silva, making just his tenth senior appearance, brought down Juan Bernat inside the area, leaving referee Michael Oliver with no choice but to point to the spot. Despite netting all of his three spot-kicks this season, Neymar was stood down and Mbappé stepped up instead, sending Odysseas Vlachodimos the wrong way to send PSG in ahead at the break.That momentum carried the hosts through into the second half, with Mbappé missing a trademark curled effort from the left to double the lead. On the hour mark, that squandered chance would be punished as Benfica were awarded a penalty of their own. Marco Verratti’s late challenge on Rafa Silva handed João Mário the chance to equalise from 12 yards and he emphatically took that opportunity, leaving Gianluigi Donnarumma with no hope of denying him.Neither side found themselves able to take control of the contest after the leveller, with both of their unbeaten records under new management remaining intact. A win either way would’ve secured qualification to the knockout stages, but that looks inevitable for both after Juventus’ defeat to Maccabi Haifa, with a five-point gap separating the Old Lady from the top two.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGERound 4Tuesday Maccabi Haifa – Juventus 2-0 (2-0)/Atzili 7, 42/Copenhagen – Man.City 0-0Shakhtar – Real Madrid 1-1 (0-0)/Zubkov 46 – Rudiger 90+4/Dortmund – Sevilla 1-1 (1-1)/Bellingham 35 – Nianzou 18/AC Milan – Chelsea 0-2 (0-2)/Jorginho 21 pen, Aubameyang 34/PSG – Benfica 1-0 (1-0)/Mbappe 40 pen/Celtic – RB Leipzig 0-2 (0-0)/Werner 75, Forsberg 84/Dinamo Zagreb – Salzburg 1-1 (0-1)/Ljubicic 41 – Seiwald 12/Wednesday 19.45: (1.65) Napoli (4.20) Ajax (5.90)19.45: (1.49) Atl.Madrid (4.30) Club Brugge (7.75)22.00: (2.55) Sporting (3.40) Olympique Marseille (3.00)22.00: (8.00) Rangers (5.30) Liverpool (1.43)22.00: (1.58) Tottenham (4.30) Eintr.Frankfurt (6.75)22.00: (2.35) Leverkusen (3.50) Porto (3.25)22.00: (1.48) Barcelona (4.70) Inter (8.00)22.00: (15.0) Plzen (8.50) Bayern (1.18)***odds are subject to change©FlashScore
