UEFA Champions League
Result: CSKA Moscow 1-0 Real Madrid
Date: 02 October 2018
Venue: VEB Arena
UEFA Champions League holders Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to CSKA Moscow at the VEB Arena on Tuesday evening.
Los Blancos entered the encounter without the services of Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Isco.
The hosts took a surprising lead after two minutes when Nikola Vlasic pounced on Toni Kroos' poor back pass before rifling the ball past Keylor Navas.
It took a while for the defending champions to get going, but they nearly pulled a goal back in the 29th minute when Casemiro rattled the crossbar with a strike from distance.
The woodwork came to Real's frustration once again in the 40th minute, with Karim Benzema heading his effort onto the bar from close range.
After a quiet start to the half, Julen Lopetegui opted for a double change as Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez made way for Luka Modric and Mariano Diaz in the 58th minute.
Despite the injection of fresh legs, Los Blancos found it tough to carve out chances against a CSKA side who were happy to sit back and defend their lead.
Mariano went agonisingly close to pulling Real level in the 90th minute, but his header crashed against the upright with goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev well beaten.
CSKA endured a nervy few minutes in the closing stages when goalkeeper Akinfeev was sent off for a picking up a second yellow card.
However, the hosts managed to see out the remaining minutes of the game to claim a famous win over the defending champions.
Other Group G Result:
Roma 5 - 0 Viktoria Plzen
