September 29, (THEWILL) – FC Sheriff defeated Real Madrid at the Bernabeu with a late stunner from Sebastien Thill. It was the biggest upset of the entire UEFA Champions League campaign so far as it was not the result anyone could have predicted in the unmatched pair of contestants.
The Moldovan debutants were supposed to be having their first feel of the height of continental football in a baptism of fire at the crucible of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and the early exchanges showed this to be so.
The thirteen-time European Champions took control of the game and created a number of decent chances through Karim Benzema.
After a quarter-hour, though, the visitors delivered a shocker that stunned the home fans and those following across the football world. The Brazilian Cristiano was afforded too much room down the left flank, allowing him to wipe in a pinpoint cross into the box, which was met by Jasurbek Yakhshiboev, who headed the ball past Thibaut Courtois.
Sheriff depended heavily on goalkeeper and man of the match Giorgos Athanasiadis to keep them in the game, and he came up with a number of outstanding saves.
Madrid continued to put pressure on the visitors in the second half, finally winning a penalty after Vincius Jnior was deemed to have been brought down inside the area by Edmund Addo. Benzema came on to square the score and, in so doing, become the competition’s fourth-highest scorer overall after converting the penalty kick.
The game continued to be exciting when, in the 72nd minute, Sheriff substitute Felipe Bruno put the ball in the back of the net, only to be declared offside after a lengthy VAR review.
But, a remarkable strike from Thill late in the game gave Sheriff the victory and a footballing milestone to boot. Hard as Real tried, they could not level to the scores again as Athanasiadis made sure to preserve his clean sheet.
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of this outcome! A side from Moldova, without any UCL pedigree and in their first competition, has defeated the club that has won the trophy more times than any other team in Europe’s greatest competition. And, dared to do that on the very hallowed grounds of the Santiago Bernabeu.
On paper, the visitors appeared to be a random group of players, but they proved tonight that by sticking to their manager’s game plan and believing in themselves, they can pull off what is possibly the biggest upset in the competition’s history.
As shocking as it is, Sheriff lead Group H on six full points from the two rounds of matches so far played as they hosted and defeated Shakhtar Donetsk in the opening game of the group stages. It is turning out to be far from how anyone could have predicted the group to go and it will be interesting to watch where is goes from here.
Real are second on three points while Inter and Shakhtar follow with one point each in that order.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
