Given their opponents this week, Shakhtar, had to move out of Donetsk in 2014 because of the Russo-Ukranian War - of which the Crimean annexation was a part - and have had to play their games in Kyiv since, this should create some interesting tensions between the clubs when they meet. Russia has a consulate and a significant military presence in Transnistria, and in 2014 their semi-independent parliament requested to join the Russian state following the annexation of Crimea. Tiraspol is the capital of Transnistria, a breakaway state located on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border in which the majority of its citizens are ethnic Russians, rather than Moldovans. All of this despite many in the city of Tiraspol not seeing themselves as being Moldovan at all. Sheriff have dominated Moldovan football for years, winning 19 league titles since 2001, including nine of the last 10 and six in a row from 2015. They beat Teuta of Albania, Armenian champions Alashkert and Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade prior to Dinamo, and their hopes of an improbable place in the first round proper received a giant boost when the Croatians were thrashed 3-0 in Tiraspol before a quiet goalless draw in the second leg was then safely negotiated. Sheriff were certainly made to work for their berth alongside Madrid, Inter et al at the top table. Having begun the 2021-22 Champions League in the first qualifying phase, they had to negotiate four rounds and eight games to get this far. But on another, it is a strange and murky tale, not least because many fans and officials connected with the club would bridle if you called Sheriff 'the first club from Moldova' to reach this stage. Their first ever Champions League away game in the main draw is at Santiago Bernabeu two weeks later. On Wednesday, Sheriff will kick-off Group D at home to Shakhtar. Real Madrid, Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk - the most successful European club of all time, a Champions League winner and a Europa League champion - have all been placed in a pool with the "new Sheriffs in town", as one commentator gleefully referred to them as following their qualification. In an age where European football is in constant danger of being permanently gatekept by a wealthy, self-appointed elite, this was immediately hailed as a great, and rare story of underdogs triumphant.Ĭertainly, when the draw was made a couple of days later, the magnitude of Sheriff's achievement was made even more stark. Benching Ronaldo against Everton the 'correct decision' as Solskjaer defends team selection.Arsenal hit 35-year offensive low after scoreless draw with Brighton.Can Solskjaer turn misfiring Man Utd around with daunting fixtures on the horizon?.No new contract but Salah's Liverpool form shows no sign of slowing as Manchester City loom.By holding Dinamo Zagreb to a 0-0 draw, they had progressed to the group stages of the Champions League - the first ever club from Moldova to do so. Several team-mates were shrugged off by goalkeeper Giorgos Athanasiadis, the Greek shot-stopper on loan from AEK Athens wanting a moment to himself to soak up what had just happened. Head coach Yuriy Vernydub and his coaching staff hugged and danced in sheer delight.
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