Fastest red card in Champions League history dooms Shakhtar Donetsk against Bayern Munich

Talk about a nightmare start.

Shakhtar Donetsk had done well to keep Bayern Munich to a 0-0 tie in Ukraine two weeks ago, stifling them with a very high press and ensuring that they would have to a chance to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League against the German juggernauts.

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But in Bavaria on Wednesday, less than three minutes into the return contest in their round of 16 tie, defender Oleksandr Kucher's trailing leg swept through Mario Goetze, who had broken through into Shakhtar's box, after his initial tackle seemed to miss the mark.

Referee William Callom from Scotland didn't hesitate to point to the spot – a rarity this early in a game. And, judging that Goetze had no men left to beat but the goalkeeper, he gave Kucher a red card.

That made Kucher the fastest player to ever be sent off in a Champions League game, according to Infostrada Sports.

Thomas Muller converted the penalty, to all but doom Shakhtar. Bayern went on to demolish the visitors from Ukraine 7-0 to advance to the Champions League last eight.

Interestingly, Infostrada also pointed out that this was the 19th red card awarded to opponents of Bayern in the history of this competition. Only Barcelona have had more adversaries sent off, with 29.

Amazingly, just half an hour into the other game in London, the away team was reduced to 10 men as well. Paris Saint-Germain star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who for all his success in domestic leagues often disappoints in Europe, slid into what seemed to be a 50-50 challenge with Chelsea's Oscar. Both players went in hard. The Brazilian beat the big Swede to the ball, though, and Zlatan caught him on the ankle as both players followed through.

While Ibrahimovic was immediately resigned to his sending-off, his teammates and their opponents furiously lobbied Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers. The call seemed very harsh, after all. But it stood all the same.

Take a look.

It was Zlatan's fourth Champions League red card, matching another record for most sending-offs ever in this competition, held by Edgar Davids.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.