A young Real Madrid side suffered an embarrassing 3-0 home defeat at the hands of CSKA Moscow - in what was their worst ever defeat at the Bernabeu in any European competition.
Real had already qualified for the last 16 and made a host of changes for the game, but it was still an embarrassment for the Champions League holders to suffer a record home loss.
Despite CSKA's victory, they could not secure third place in the group and Europa League qualification after Viktoria Plzen took that spot by beating Roma 2-1.
And that was rough justice on the Russian side, whose European season came to an end on a night of otherwise unbridled joy.
Goals by Fedor Chalov, Georgi Schennikov and Arnor Sigurdsson secured an emphatic CSKA success.
It was Real's heaviest European home defeat and their first home reversal in the Champions League group stages for nine years.
Real boss Santiago Solari made a number of changes, including handing starts to Isco and Marco Asensio, while a star-studded bench featured Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
And Real did not settle consistently during a first half that reached its conclusion with CSKA stunning their hosts by scoring two goals during a vibrant six-minute spell.
Real's defensive work had assumed comedy value, and the visitors did not require a second invitation to enjoy the last laugh.
Courtois was again powerless as Sigurdsson swept the ball home, putting the seal on an outstanding CSKA display.
Real Madrid 0-3 CSKA Moscow Opta stats
- CSKA Moscow’s 3-0 victory over Real Madrid is Los Blancos’ heaviest home defeat in any European competition in the club’s history.
- CSKA Moscow are the first side since Juventus during the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League campaign to beat Real Madrid both home and away during the group stages of the competition.
- Real Madrid have lost a group stage match at home in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since October 2009, when they lost 2-3 to AC Milan, 28 games ago.
- The average age of Real Madrid’s starting XI in tonight’s defeat against CSKA Moscow was 24y 100d, their third youngest Champions League starting line-up, and their youngest in the competition since December 2005 v Olympiakos (23d 36d).
- Arnor Sigurdsson is the first player to both score and assist at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League since Pierre-Emerick Aubemyang did so for Borussia Dortmund back in December 2016.
- Vincius Júnior (18y 152d) is the third youngest player to start a UEFA Champions League match for Real Madrid, with only Iker Casillas (18y 117d) and Raúl González (18y 77d) starting a match in the competition at a younger age than the Brazilian for Los Blancos.
Follow Sporting Life on social media - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLifeFC
Related football links