Three stats from Real Madrid’s late draw with Shakhtar Donetsk

A surprise test for Real Madrid against their bogey team in the Champions League saw Shakhtar Donetsk go close to recording a historic victory, before Antonio Rüdiger’s brave, last gasp equaliser.

Oleksandr Zubkov had given the home team the lead, but the German’s header in injury time, with less than 30 seconds left on the clock, eventually sealed a point for Los Blancos.

Here are three stats that help to tell us the tale of the game.

0.34 - Real Madrid’s lowest first-half xG this season

Throughout recent weeks, Madridistas have lamented the team’s wasting of chances and lack of clinical finishing in front of goal. This time, Real Madrid did score a fairly accurate one goal to 1.18 xG, but it may have been even more concerning given that chances were few and far between.

The first 45 minutes saw Real Madrid record only four shots from inside the box, creating just 0.34 xG for their lowest total in the first period of any game since the 1-0 LaLiga defeat to Atlético Madrid in April when Carlo Ancelotti rotated virtually the whole team.

In the end, the total xG of 1.18 was also the second lowest of the season to date, only surpassed by another trip to the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, when Real Madrid scored two from 1.12 xG to win 2-1 in the Derbi Madrileño.

Such a slow start will be a concern given the importance of upcoming fixtures, such as Sunday’s Clásico when getting off to a poor start on the back foot could be lethal. This was the fourth time this season that Real Madrid have gone behind this season, even though they are yet to taste defeat.

19 - Eden Hazard’s number of completed passes, the lowest of any outfield Real Madrid starter

All eyes were on Eden Hazard as he made his first start since the home win over Mallorca on September 11th. Despite that, he made only 19 passes in total, with only one in the final third. That’s not quite what the Belgian might have been hoping for.

There were 35 touches from Hazard in total, failing in his one attempted dribble and losing his two duels. Taken off on 57 minutes, the last time he reached the hour mark of a match he started was January 23rd in a 2-2 draw against Elche. He hasn’t played 90 minutes since December 2021, and the last time before that was November 2019.

He continues to be invisible when given opportunities and Carlo Ancelotti seems to have been unimpressed by his display again. Failing to record a single shot is not a good sign for his confidence either.

The only man less popular than the Real Madrid number seven seems to be Marco Asensio, who got 22 minutes under his belt in his second-longest spell on the pitch this season. Despite playing almost a third of the minutes that Hazard got in Poland, he recorded only three fewer completed passes.

50 - Difference in successful passes between Toni Kroos and Real Madrid’s next-most successful passer

With 108 accurate passes in total, the next most active Real Madrid player was a tie between Lucas Vázquez and Antonio Rüdiger with just 58 passes completed each. Almost half of the German’s total. In fourth place was Aurélien Tchouaméni with 50.

He also created five chances, the most of any player involved, and provided the assist for Rüdiger’s equaliser with a stunning cross which was an almost exact replica of another cross which had come only moments earlier.

In addition, with three shots he had more than anyone other than Karim Benzema and lost the ball only once when in possession. He was crucial to everything that Real Madrid produced when going forwards.

Defensively, it was a magisterial display. He won more tackles than any other player with four successful tackles made. He also made more recoveries than anyone other than Nacho, with the duo level on 11 each.