Legia Warszawa take on Real Madrid behind closed doors

Needing a win at Legia Warsaw to advance, Madrid squandered a 2-0 lead and allowed the Polish side to earn its first point of the campaign in what became a highly embarrassing 3-3 draw for the Spanish powerhouse.

Gareth Bale called on Real Madrid to improve at both ends of the pitch after their thrilling 3-3 Champions League draw at Legia Warsaw.

Yet Legia hit back with a brilliant piece of skill and finish from Vadis Odjidja five minutes before half-time, while Miroslav Radovic completed a shock comeback by the hosts with an arrowed toe poke into the bottom corner in the 58th.

Madrid substitute Lucas Vazquez nearly turned the result back around when he sent a shot off the crossbar right before the final whistle.

Following that match, UEFA, European football’s governing body, ordered Legia to hold tonight’s home game without fans.

Victory in Poland could put Madrid through to the knockout stages – depending on the result of the other Group F fixture between Borussia Dortmund and Sporting CP – but Zidane insists an empty stadium will not help his side reach their goal.

Madrid, which beat Legia 5-1 in their first meeting without any goals from Ronaldo, are undefeated in 26 matches across all competitions dating back to last season’s quarterfinals.

Dortmund join Arsenal, Paris Saint Germain, last season’s finalists Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich in the round of 16.

“No, not from the game I saw”. “We lacked a bit of everything”. Sometimes when you score twice away from home it seems that the game is under control but we let them play and they scored the first goal.

“We have to play without any fans and we’re going to prepare as we always do, only thinking about how important the three points are”. The Polish team has lost all three group matches and conceded a tournament-high 13 goals.

“Playing without spectators in the stands is like playing in stadium without soul”.

The Germans’ coach Thomas Tuchel admitted that “we really struggled to break them down and made many defensive mistakes – but we are through after four games”. However, the Frenchman insisted he still has much to learn after just 10 months in the job following a season and a half in charge of Real’s reserve team Castilla.

Up front, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to take the attack to Legia from the right and left wings respectively.