Defending champions Real Madrid had a tough outing on Tuesday night as Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk held the Spanish giants on a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Champions League Group F fixture. Real Madrid came from behind as centre-back Antonio Rudiger scored a last-minute equalizer to salvage a point for his team.
While scoring the equalizer, Rudiger suffered a gruesome injury on his head after colliding with the Shakhtar goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin in the stoppage time, leaving both the players on the ground screaming in pain.
Shakhtar midfielder Oleksandr Zubkov scored the first goal of the match in the first minute of the second half to give a much-needed lead to the home side at the Polish Army Stadium. The Ukrainian side looked confident to take home three points from their clash against the LaLiga champions, however, a 90+5-minute equalizer from Rudiger ended their hopes to register a clean sheet and eventually a victory from the hard-fought game.
Watch Antonio Rudiger's last-minute equalizer that led to an injury:
Rudiger headed the goal in the last-minute of the stoppage time and collided with the Shakhtar goalkeeper in the follow through leaving both the players on the ground. The German defender suffered a nasty cut on his forehead, but he was fortunate to walk off the ground on his own.
After the game, Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelloti said, " He’s got a cut on his forehead. He’s recovering and he’s ok mentally. He was laughing and he’s happy because he scored an important goal. "
Shakhtar had a strong chance to qualify for the UCL knockout stage if they had won the game against Real Madrid, however, the team could still make it to the Round of 16 by winning their remaining two group fixtures. The Ukrainian side will next face Celtic, who they defeated 4-2 in their last clash, in an away game on October 25 before their last fixture against RB Leipzig on November 2.
On the other hand, Real Madrid are comfortably sitting on the top place with 10 points in four games and will face RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena before hosting Celtic at the Santiago Bernabeu.
