Celtic’s Champions League Group F rivals Shakhtar Donetsk thumped FC Metalist Kharkiv in the Ukrainian Premier League on Saturday to maintain their lead at the top of the table, putting six past their sorry opponents in a bruising five-goal victory.
Danylo Sikan scored a first-half hat-trick, with Oleksandr Zubkov adding another before half-time. The Ukrainian side eased up in the second period, adding just two more through Lassina Traore and Neven Durasek, whilst Aleks Chidomere scored a late consolation for Metalist as Shakhtar ran out 6-1 winners.
The Ukranians travel to the Spanish capital for the first of their two games against group leaders Real Madrid on Wednesday.
On Los Blancos, their winning start to the season ended on Karim Benzema’s return from injury as the La Liga and European champions could only muster a 1-1 draw at home to Osasuna in La Liga last night.
Vinicius Jnr maintained his electric form by scoring Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s opener just before half time at the Santiago Bernabeu, and it looked as if Madrid’s perfect form was set to continue until Kike Garcia headed past Andriy Lunin in the the home goal five minutes after the break.
Benzema had a golden opportunity to win the game for Madrid from the spot after David Garcia was sent off for shoving the Frenchman over in the box, but the talismanic striker blasted his penalty off the crossbar and Osasuna held on with ten men for the final 12 minutes to gain a valuable point.
Madrid joined Barcelona at the top of La Liga, with their fierce rivals from Catalonia leading the table on goal difference.
As we reported earlier, Celtic’s next opponents RB Leipzig secured only their second win in six games with a resounding 4-0 home win over VfL Bochum on Saturday, with ex-Celt Cristian Gamboa in the starting line-up for their beleaguered Bundesliga rivals.
Christopher Nkunku and Timo Werner helped themselves to a goal each in both halves, as Marco Rose’s side moved up to 10th in the league table.
Celtic, of course, returned to winning ways and regained their place at the summit of the Scottish Premiership with a 2-1 win over Motherwell on Saturday, and the Hoops will now gear up for their huge double-header against the Bundesliga side over the next ten days.
In other news: Postecoglou praises scrutinised Celtic pair; issues Champions League injury update
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