Sheriff Tiraspol drew 0-0 the return game against Slovan Bratislava, of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Thus, Moldova’s champion failed to qualify for the next round as it lost the first-leg match in Slovakia 1-2, IPN reports.
In the return game in Tiraspol, Sheriff was in a crisis of ideas and endangered the opponents’ goal only two times. Isa hit the transversal bar from a great distance, while Ricardinho’s free kick was rejected. After the 56th minute, the Tiraspol team played in ten because Elkin Blanco from Columbia was eliminated.
“The fact that we didn’t qualify is a tragedy for us. We are very disappointed. It’s a pity that we could not delight our supporters,” Sheriff coach Veaceslav Rusnac told a news conference.
“We met a very good team. It was hard for us at the start of the match, but we then balanced the game. I’m satisfied with the performance of my team,” said the coach of Slovan Frantisek Straka.
Sheriff will continue to compete in the Europe League playoffs, for which Zimbru can also qualify. On August 7, the ‘yellow-greens’ play the return game at home against Grodig, starting at 10:05pm. In the first-leg match, Zimbru scored a 2-1 victory.
