Benitez Finally Delivers Excitement, Albeit Not as Real Madrid Fans Had Hoped

LVIV, UKRAINE—The weeks heading into Wednesday's Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk had been rather disastrous for Real Madrid, the nadir being reached on Saturday as they were put to the sword in a 4-0 thrashing by arch-rivals Barcelona.

Hours before kick-off, the Daily Mail's Rob Draper reported that Rafa Benitez had held a meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema, among others, to clear the air and set in stone a tactical model the team would understand and use.

Judging by the first hour and a quarter or so, it seemed that Benitez's meeting had the intended effect.

Real took just 18 minutes to open the scoring in quite frigid conditions in Lviv, with Bale squaring for Ronaldo to nod home from close range. The visitors were comfortable when Luka Modric and Daniel Carvajal struck on 50 and 52 minutes respectively to open a commanding lead. And Ronaldo made it 4-0 on another setup from Bale on 70 minutes.

All the while, Real were playing dominant, impressive football. Benitez's changes to his lineup for the Barca game generally had a positive impact on the team's performance, with Mateo Kovacic and Casemiro in particularly adding a sturdy element in midfield that had been lacking against Barca.

Those who had left much to be desired over the weekend also stepped up: Modric was simply outstanding and looked the hero he'd been in the latter stages of the 2013-14 Champions League, while Ronaldo delivered a man-of-the-match performance with two goals and as many assists.

It's no simple task to win in Ukraine—as Bayern Munich found out in February—but for the vast majority of Wednesday's match, Real made it look easy.

And then the last 12 minutes came, and everything started to fall apart for the visitors.

Shakhtar's comeback began from almost nothing as Casemiro, who faded later in the game with apparent fatigue, made a silly decision a tiring player would: With Taison already well marked, he aggressively came to win the ball and conceded a penalty. A little less gusto and a little more sense would likely have resulted in the attacking move fizzling out, but Alex Teixeira took advantage of the spot-kick and made it 4-1.

The penalty seemed to breathe new life into Shakhtar, and minutes later, the unmarked Dentinho pulled back another goal for the hosts following a corner kick. The hosts pressed, and two minutes from full-time, Teixeira made it 4-3 after the ball had found its way to him in the penalty area.

Ahead by four goals in the final quarter hour, Real looked to be in complete control. Yet the final two minutes of regular time plus the three minutes of stoppage time were tense indeed for the visitors as they tried to hold on to a perilous lead.

The home crowd was on its feet, the Shakhtar players emboldened as they'd come back from the brink, and everything Real had worked so hard for was dangerously close to being lost.

And then Dutch referee Bas Nijhuis blew the whistle for full-time. 4-3, and the visitors' blushes were spared.

Real can be satisfied to have clinched top spot in Group A ahead of a very strong PSG side. And several key players truly stepped up. But Benitez still has some work to do, it seems. He finally produced some truly entertaining football, but it wasn't all the kind he'd wanted.

As the knockout rounds loom, Real will need to keep their focus for the full 90 minutes. Anything else, and it could spell an early end to their Champions League hopes.

@Mr_Bundesliga