FC Sheriff manager Yuriy Vernydub saw his moment and seized it on Tuesday night.
The Moldovan champions had just beaten Real Madrid 2-1 at the Bernabeu in the Champions League, but Vernydub's thoughts turned to last month when former Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt said Sheriff should not be in the tournament.
"I know that the Champions League is a competition for champions, but teams like Sheriff Tiraspol have nothing to do with the Champions League," Kuyt told Dutch channel RTL 7.
A sensational 89th minute strike from Sebastien Thill saw Sheriff beat the Spanish giants, adding to their 2-0 win at home to Shakhtar Donetsk a fortnight ago.
Dirk Kuyt: ''I know the Champions League is a tournament for champions but teams like Sheriff Tiraspol have nothing to do in the Champions League.'' #UCL #SHEDZG pic.twitter.com/3dl5ONvTt2
— Football24/7 (@foet247europa) August 17, 2021
"It was a great player, Dirk Kuyt, who said there is no place in the Champions League for Sheriff," said Vernydub during Tuesday's post-match press conference.
"So I’m very happy to destroy his perfect world.
"At the moment, I am very happy after this game against such a big club like Real Madrid. This is so emotional.
"I’m very appreciative of my boys for this great job. We are a real team.
"Some big name players said before there’s no place in the Champions League for a team like Sheriff, but it’s our place and we proved it."
"It was a great player, Dirk Kuyt, who said there is no place in the Champions League for Sheriff. So I'm very happy to destroy his perfect world." pic.twitter.com/W41IcDFi8J
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) September 29, 2021
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