Player Ratings: Real Madrid 1-2 Sheriff – 2021/22

Sheriff Tiraspol shock Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu winning 2-1 with a last-gasp wonderstrike.

The Moldovan champions opened the scoring after 25 minutes as Cristiano da Silva was allowed the freedom down the right wing to cross to Jasurbek Yakhshiboev who headed past Courtois. Around the hour mark, Vinicius was brought down in the box and the referee, Lawrence Visser, awarded Real Madrid a penalty. Karim Benzema stepped up and emphatically buried the spot-kick, overtaking Raul as the competition’s fourth top scorer with 72 goals.

Real Madrid created chance after chance but couldn’t find the finish they sorely needed. This would eventually come back to haunt the 13-time European champions as Sheriff produced a stunning counter-attack to score the winner. Our player ratings:

Starting XI:

Thibaut Courtois: 6/10

Not much that he could do stop either goal, especially the winner. The Belgian had a couple of nervy moments on the ball, giving away possession in dangerous areas.

Nacho: 6/10

Eder Militao: 6/10

Missed a number of good opportunities to score and didn’t look comfortable in defence. Subpar performance.

David Alaba: 6/10

Not Alaba’s best performance. Just like Nacho, the Austrian was caught out of position for Sheriff’s opener. Alaba didn’t make any glaring mistakes but wasn’t at the level we expect from him.

Miguel Gutiérrez: 6/10

Fede Valverde: 6.5/10

Casemiro: 6/10

Casemiro just hasn’t got going this season. The Brazilian is either not fully fit or low on confidence as he looks a shadow of his former self.

Eduardo Camavinga: 7/10

Started tonight’s game as Ancelotti looked to give Modric some rest. The Frenchman started the game well but his influence on the game faded as time went on. Camavinga ended the match at left-back.

Eden Hazard: 7.5/10

Karim Benzema: 8/10

Vinicius Jr: 8/10

Substitutions:

Luka Modric: 7/10 – Came on to replace Casemiro. The Croatian looked sharp during his time on the pitch but there was nothing he could do to help his team get a result.

Toni Kroos: 7/10 – Toni Kroos is finally back! Making his first appearance of the season, the German looked sharp on the ball and looked to score from distance on a number of occasions. Real Madrid have missed his class in the middle of the park.

Rodrygo: 7/10 – Came on to replace Nacho. The Brazilian’s impact on the game was very noticeable. Rodrygo caused Sheriff all sorts of problems and came close to scoring very late on.

Luka Jovic: 6/10 – Came on to replace Hazard. The Serbian had a number of excellent opportunities to give Real Madrid the lead, notably the chance just before the counterattack that resulted in Sheriff’s winner.