Thill netted with a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Sheriff its second consecutive victory. It leads Group D with six points, three more than Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, which drew 0-0 in Ukraine in the other group match.<\/p>\n
Watch Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo and football's biggest superstars in the<\/strong><\/em> UEFA Champions League<\/strong><\/em><\/a> with every match streaming ad-free, live and on-demand only on Stan Sport from September 15. Start your seven day free trial<\/strong><\/em> here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Sheriff beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in its opener at home, while Madrid won 1-0 at Inter.<\/p>\n Sheriff is the first club from the Moldovan league to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, although it is based in the breakaway region of Transnistria, a self-proclaimed independent nation which isn't recognised by any United Nations member state.<\/p>\n The club founded just over two decades ago is funded by the Sheriff company, which runs large parts of the economy in Transnistria and has strong political ties.<\/p>\n The visitors had rarely threatened until opening the scoring after a breakaway in the 25th, with Jasurbek Yakhshiboev finding the far corner with a firm header past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.<\/p>\n A mistake by Courtois a few minutes later while trying to move the ball up the field nearly gave Sheriff another goal, with Yakhshiboev's shot missing just wide of the post.<\/p>\n Benzema, Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior, and Eden Hazard all had scoring chances as Madrid kept pressuring, but failed to capitalize on them while Sheriff threatened on counterattacks.<\/p>\n Sheriff goalkeeper Giorgos Athanasiadis was named the player of the match for helping stop a Madrid attack that had more than 20 attempts.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Gallen's warning to NRL stars amid new scandal<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> David Warner dropped by IPL team<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n "This is soccer," Madrid midfielder Casemiro said. "We were in control during the entire match and had many scoring chances. They had only two and scored twice."<\/p>\n Benzema equalized from the penalty spot in the 65th after a controversial foul on Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior as he tried to get past a defender inside the area. The referee initially let play continue but awarded the penalty after checking the video review.<\/p>\n Less than 10 minutes later, Sheriff had a potential winner by substitute Bruno called back for offside, but Thill still secured the victory near the end with a booming first-timer that hit the upper corner of the net.<\/p>\n Thill became the first player from Luxembourg to score a goal in the Champions League.<\/p>\n Sheriff players celebrated loudly after the final whistle as many Madrid fans jeered their team after its second consecutive setback at the Bernab\u00e9u.<\/p>\n Madrid had won five in a row in all competitions before being held by Villarreal to a scoreless home draw in the Spanish league last weekend. The Spanish powerhouse has won only five of its last 13 European games at home.<\/p>\n Madrid is back at the Bernab\u00e9u this season after playing at the smaller Alfredo Di St\u00e9fano Stadium in its training centre during the pandemic.<\/p>\n Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made four changes at once after the equalizer, with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos among those coming off the bench.<\/p>\n Madrid next visits Shakhtar Donetsk, while Sheriff plays at Inter Milan.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Champions](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/09\/383753\/pickerimage.jpg\")
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