Sheriff Tiraspol stun Real Madrid at Bernabéu
Sheriff Tiraspol surprised Real Madrid at Bernabéu in what's easily the biggest stunner of the UEFA Champions League so far.
Real Madrid 1-2 Sheriff Tiraspol:
● Real Madrid were beaten for just the second time in their last 32 group stage games in the UEFA Champions League when playing at the Santiago Bernabéu (W25 D5), losing against CSKA Moscow in December 2018 and Sheriff Tiraspol tonight.
● Sheriff Tiraspol are the first team to win their first two games in the UEFA Champions League since Leicester City in the 2016-17 campaign.
● This was just the third ever away victory by a Moldovan team in a major European competition, following Zimbru Chisinau in the UEFA Cup in 1995 (v RAF Jelgava) and Sheriff Tiraspol themselves in the UEFA Europa League in 2017 (v Lokomotiv Moscow).
● Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has scored in 17 different UEFA Champions League campaigns; the joint-most of any player in the history of the competition, along with Lionel Messi who also scored tonight.
● Karim Benzema has been directly involved in 16 goals in nine appearances for Real Madrid in all competitions this season (9 goals, 7 assists), more than twice as many as any other player for the club.
● Cristiano has made three assists in his two UEFA Champions League games for Sheriff Tiraspol – since 2003-04, no player has ever made more in their first two appearances in the competition.
● Sheriff Tiraspol’s Jasurbek Yakhshiboev became the first player from Uzbekistan to score in the UEFA Champions League since Maksim Shatskikh in December 2006, who netted a brace against Real Madrid on that occasion.