Which country do FC Sheriff Tiraspol play? Stadium and Champions League record of Real Madrid giant-killers

Sheriff Tiraspol went 1-0 up against the Spanish giants inside half an hour with a bullet header from Jasurbek Yakhshiboev to give the underdogs the start they had dreamed of.

A Karim Benzema penalty on the hour mark brought Carlo Ancelotti’s side back into the tie and while you would assume Real Madrid would go onto take all three points, it was Sheriff Tiraspol that snatched the win with a last gasp thunderbolt goal from Sebastien Thill - who is on loan from Luxembourg’s Progres Niederkorn.

Real Madrid are unbeaten in all competitions this season and were victorious in their opening Champions League clash with Inter Milan earlier this season, however it is Sheriff Tiraspol that have put an end to the run of 12 matches without a loss - stretching back to last season.

In fact, the only other team to beat Real Madrid since January was Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.

Where are FC Sheriff Tiraspol from?

FC Sheriff Tiraspol are based in Tiraspol, the capital city of Transnistria in Moldova - an unrecognised breakaway state in the narrow strip of land between the river Dniester and the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

The Moldovan minnows play their football in the Sheriff Stadium - a ground built in August 2000 with a capacity of 12,746. The Moldova national football team have previously played some of their international home matches at the stadium.

Zholto-chornyye - which translates to The Yellow-Blacks - compete in the Moldovan National Division. The league consists of eight teams and was only established 29 years years ago - when the country became independent from the Soviet Union.

Sheriff Tiraspol are 19-time champions of the Divizia Nationala and have won it six times in a row.

FC Sheriff Tiraspol’s Champions League record

Sheriff became the first Moldovan team to qualify for the group stages this season.

Yuriy Vernydub - who only joined the club last year - led his side through four rounds of qualifiers, beating Teuta of Albania, Armenian champions Alashkert, Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade and finally Dinamo Zagreb - who they overcame with a 3-0 win on aggregate.

Despite playing eight games on route to the group stage, Sheriff conceded only twice and scored an impressive 14 goals.

The Yellow-Blacks were then handed an extremely tough group containing 13-time Champions League winners Real Madrid and current Serie A champions Inter Milan.

The club began the European tournament with a shock 2-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk thanks to goals from Adama Traore and Momo Yansane.

The win against the Ukrainians was already impressive enough, but it had nothing on Sheriff’s stunning performance last night.

Two wins from two so far for the Moldovans leaves them top of their group on six points, with Real Madrid in second after taking three points from Inter Milan earlier in the month.

Sheriff will take on Simone Inzaghi’s side in October, with the Italians still searching for their first win of the tournament after playing out a 0-0 stalemate against Shakhtar last night.

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