A new Sheriff downs Real
MADRID: The start to life in the Champions League couldn’t be going much better for Moldovan club Sheriff.
Sébastien Thill scored a 90thminute winner as the newcomers stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Tuesday.
Thill netted with a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Sheriff its second consecutive victory.it leads Group D with six points, three more than Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, which drew 0-0 in Ukraine in the other group match. Sheriff beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 at home, while Madrid won 1-0 at Inter.
“For us this is a dream come true to have won here,” Sheriff captain Frank Castañeda said.
Sheriff is the first club from the Moldovan league to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, although it is based in the breakaway region of Transnistria, a self-proclaimed independent nation which isn’t recognised by any United Nations member state.
The club founded just over two decades ago is funded by the Sheriff company, which runs large parts of the economy in Transnistria and has strong political ties.
The visitors had rarely threatened until opening the scoring after a breakaway in the 25th, with Jasurbek Yakhshiboev finding the far corner with a firm header past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Karim Benzema equalised from the penalty spot in the 65th after a controversial foul on Vinícius Júnior as he tried to get past a defender inside the area. The referee initially let play continue but awarded the penalty after checking the video review.
In Porto, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino both struck twice and Sadio Mane once in a 5-1 drubbing of the Portuguese champions.