Arboleda and Castañeda make history: victory vs. Madrid

Two Colombians were present at the most important match in the history of the Sheriff Tiraspol. Defender Danilo Arboleda and midfielder Frank Castañeda started the 1-2 victory against Real Madrid for the second round of Group D of the Champions League, at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. The Moldovans are leaders in their area, in which they share with Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk, with points perfect.

Sheriff surprises and takes advantage

The Spanish tried to impose their conditions and enforce their locality. Karim Benzema had the first approach of the match with a free kick on the edge of the area, which demanded goalkeeper Giorgos Athanasiadis who saved with his fists and sent the ball to the corner kick. The Moldovan team defended themselves and although they did not handle the ball, showed solidity and prevented his rivals from entering the goal clearly.

At minute 25 and above all prediction, Sheriff Tiraspol opened the scoring at the Santiago Bernabéu. Sébastien Thill received the ball in the middle of the field and filtered a pass for full-back Cristiano da Silva Leite who sent a cross from the left sector. The center from the flank was connected at the far post by Jasurbek Yakhshiboev who won the position to Miguel Gutiérrez and with a header he beat Thibaut Courtois.

The annotation against was an impulse for those led by Carlo Ancelotti who tried in every way to get the tie. Vinícius Júnior, Eden Hazard, Nacho Fernández, Casemiro and again Karim Benzema they had clear goal options but the goalkeeper Giorgos Athanasiadis and the lack of definition prevented them from getting the equalizer goal. Colombian Danilo Arboleda was one of the most demanded in the first half.

Thill scores a great goal in historic victory

For the second half, Real Madrid increased the intensity of their game and put the Sheriff Tiraspol in his own field. The Moldovan team was constantly in demand, he always responded in defense and bet on the counterattack to try to increase the advantage. Eden Hazard, with a medium-distance shot that the goalkeeper saved by sending the ball to the corner kick, had the first dangerous play of the complement.

At minute 62, the central judge decreed a penalty in favor of the local team, after a foul on Vinicius Junior when he tried to enter the area. In principle, the referee had allowed the play to continue, however, after reviewing the VAR, he changed his decision. Karim Benezema asked for the ball and charged with power and class to the goalkeeper’s right post Giorgos Athanasiadis that although he guessed the direction, he could not stop the shot due to the speed of the play.

The Madridistas did not lower their gloves and were looking both in the center and on the sides to get the tying goal. The locals added several shots to the goal, while the Moldovans gave up the attack and began to defend the tie. At minute 75, Frank Castañeda, who stood out more for giving a hand in defense than contributing in attack, was substituted.

With one minute remaining in the game, Sheriff Tiraspol took the victory with a great goal. After a throw-in on the right, Adama Traoré received his back to the goal and attended Sébastien Thill who received on the edge of the area and took a powerful shot at the angle that was impossible to save for Thibaut Courtois. In this way, the visitors achieved the most important victory in their history.

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With this result, Sheriff Tiraspol is the leader of Group D with six points out of six possible. Real Madrid, for its part, remains second with three units, after a victory and a draw. On the next date, the Colombian team will visit Inter Milan in Italy, while the Spaniards will play as visitors against Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine.